MANILA, Philippines - Defending champion Chiang Kai Shek College notched its second straight win by drubbing Grace Christian College, 96-59, to seize the early lead in the 43rd Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association-BonChon Chicken Championship at the CKSC gym in Manila.
Unlike in their opening game win over Hope Christian High School last Saturday, the Blue Dragons led from start to finish against Grace CC with Joshua Tan, Paulo Pilanga and Dale Dy turning in big numbers.
After being held to just 12 points in the second quarter, the Blue Dragons came through with several spurts in the third to rip the game wide open, 63-43, going into the final 10 minutes.
That gave CKSC coach Goldwin Monteverde the luxury of using his second unit which delivered in the event presented by BonChon Chicken and backed by Solar BTV, Molten and Summit Water.
Meantime, Hope Christian bounced back from a stinging 80-76 loss to CKSC by overpowering host St. Stephen’s High School, 95-63, behind the 26-point performance of Jose Go.
Go went six-for-six from the three-point area in the second period and finished the half with 24 points.
The Hope Christians eventually pulled away from a tight contest in the second half as John Apacible sparked a 7-0 run before Mark Nunez and Jobert Mercado joined the scoring spree.
Tan led the Dragons with 20 markers while Pilanga and Dy chipped in 19 and 17 points, respectively as they helped CKSC hand Grace Christian its second straight defeat. Rodney Gonzales paced GCC with 25 points.
In the Aspirants division, Chiang Kai Shek College clobbered Grace Christian College, 91-29, to jumpstart its title-retention bid while Xavier School outlasted St. Stephen’s, 56-44.
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