UM Hawks cop NAASCU crown

MANILA, Philippines - University of Manila gave STI little room to operate and hammer out a 68-55 victory last night to complete a two-game sweep in the 10th National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities men’s basketball competition at the Makati Coliseum.

Eugene Torres came through with 30 points while the lightning-quick Alvin Viernes added 18 points to propel the Hawks, many-time inter-collegiate champions, to their sixth championship.

The win thus gave the title back to the Hawks, which dominated the league for five straight seasons from 2001.

UM’s bid to regain its stranglehold on top failed after heartbreaking campaigns in 2007 and last year when they made it to the finale only to fall short with stinging setbacks.

Making it sweeter was the fact that the Hawks finally exacted revenge on the Olympians, who beat the former in 2007 to crown themselves champions.

“We’re proud of this accomplishment, credit to the whole team,” said UM president Ernesto delos Santos, who supported the team all throughout.

STI found a way to neutralize Rhandelle Colina, who exploded for 28 points in a 78-73 Game One victory a week ago but couldn’t score a single point on this one.

Thankfully, the 6-4 Torres and Viernes stepped up big to fill in the huge void.

For the effort, Torres capped his season with the Rookie-MVP plum while UM coach Felix Castllo bagged the Coach of the Year honor.

Earlier, Informatics captured third place with a 75-69 win over Centro Escolar.

In juniors’ action, Our Lady of Fatima downed CEU, 76-73, to also sweep their own best-of-three title duel. AJ Perea of the Baby Phoenix clinched the MVP plum. St. Clare beat UM, 68-59, for third place.