Scorpions, short in men, survive Saints

MANILA, Philippines — Shorthanded, fatigued and all, the seven-man Centro Escolar University continued to defy odds following another 76-75 win over St. Clare College -Virtual Reality in a thrilling Game 1 of their PBA Developmental League best-of-seven semifinal series Monday at the Paco Arena in Manila.

Rich Guinitaran starred for the Scorpions, scoring 18 points, including the breakaway lay-up in the last 13.7 seconds to tow them into another big victory despite having only seven players in their roster.

A handful players from CEU have been put on hold for their alleged involvement in game-fixing.

Backstopping Guinitaran was the tireless Senegalese big man Maodo Malick Diouf who did not sit out for a single second anew to finish with a near triple-double of 19 points, eight blocks and 33 rebounds – the new all-time best in the nine-year league history.

With Kurt Sunga and Franz Ray Diaz also chipping in key contributions, the shorthanded CEU took a 1-0 semis series lead to move on verge of progressing to the D-League Finals.

“You have to give it to the boys even though we’re just playing with seven guys. I just told them that when the buzzer starts, it’s always gonna be a 5-on-5 battle inside the court,” said head coach Derrick Pumaren who also pushed an undermanned CEU squad to a huge 84-74 do-or-die win over Go For Gold in the quarterfinals last week to make it to the Final Four.

“It’s all about our heart, our desire to win. I can’t say anything more about the boys. They’re giving everything each game. It’s about the heart and the fight whenever we step on the court.”