NBTC cagefest: Mapua, Toronto, Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu advance

MANILA, Philippines – Top seeds Mapua, Toronto and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu lived to hype by trouncing their counterparts to march into the next stage of the Smart-NBTC National Finals Super 24 Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Jonalance Masiglat fired 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists to guide the third-seeded Mapua to a 92-85 win over Don Bosco while No. 7 Toronto clobbered SBIS Calamba, 83-63, behind Gabriel Obusan’s 18 markers and nine boards.

Raffy Celis (11) led the way for No. 6 SHS-Ateneo in a lopsided 99-54 win over Rome Elite with top-ranked high school player and Gilas Pilipinas youth ace Jared Bahay flashing an all-around play of seven points, five rebounds and four steals.

Winnipeg, the champion from Canada Global Games, took care of Team United USA on Lorence Dela Cruz’s 22 points, 86-72, Team Abro Davao decked University of Luzon, 111-74 while Pinoy Mavs New Zealand escaped Holy Trinity General Santos City, 83-79.

Second-seeded University of Santo Tomas from the UAAP, for its part, barely hung on to a 66-62 win over Team Tarlac with fellow UAAP bet and No. 4 Ateneo absorbing a stunning 64-41 defeat against Team Tiaong.

The respective winners advance to the Division I with the losers being relegated to Division II of the country’s biggest high school tournament featuring eight overseas squads, 12 regional champions as well as UAAP and NCAA bets.

Reigning champion and No. 1 seed National U-Nazareth School will debut today against Cavite champion PCU-Dasmariñas for a three-peat bid in the NBTC powered by Smart, SM, Strong Realty and Development Corp., Under Armour and Molten.