Colegio de San Lorenzo cops UCSAA cage crown

MANILA, Philippines – Colegio de San Lorenzo achieved another milestone by winning the title of the Universities Colleges and Schools Athletic Association (UCSAA) basketball tournament for an unprecedented fourth straight year.

With history on its mind, CdSL played like a true champion and shook off the brave stand of host St. Dominic Savio College to eke out a thrilling 103-100 win before a big crowd at the Caruncho gym in Pasig City.

Handled by multi-titled coach Boni Garcia, the Quezon City-based Blue Griffins completed another dominant season by winning all their nine matches – eight in the double-round eliminations.

Three of these victories came against SDSC, winner of the inaugural tournament in 2011 and the host of the five-team competition this year.

“This is another major achievement for CdSL – the players and the coaching staff as well as the school administration, faculty, students and even the alumni,” said Garcia, a former coach of Air21 Express in the PBA. 

“Sports excellence is really one of the top priorites of CdSL and this latest triumph shows that we really have a good sports program for our students,” added Garcia.

Garcia also congratulated SDSC, headed by UCSAA president Dr. Nestor de la Cruz and coach Moises Kallos, for playing well during the tournament and puting up a good championship game against CdSL.

Actually, SDSC finished second in the elimination stage and earned the right to meet CdSL in the final by topping the three-team stepladder semis over University of Makati and last year’s runner-up Pasig Catholic College.

In the junior division, De La Salle-Araneta University defeated SDSC, 95-69, to capture the title.