Davao cagers soar in NSBC

Davao champion Jose Maria College is now a breath away from a first ever national basketball title after it booked a ticket to the Finals of the tough 64th National Students Basketball Championships against Emilio Aguinaldo College-Manila.
A shocking win by the JMC squad coupled with the title conquest of Assumption College of Davao in the high school division placed the Davao squads in the limelight.
JMC, which earlier dropped a 76-72 decision to the University of Cebu (UC) in its final elimination-round assignment, exacted revenge with a 66-49 rout of the back-to-back CESSAFI champion UC Webmasters before a shocked crowd at the CSI Stadium.
Gendarme Joshua Adalid scored 23 points for JMC, which raced to an 11-0 start and never trailed throughout. UC was led by Gil Wagas’ 12 points.
Earlier Thursday, Assumption College-Davao swept all its games en route to capturing the high school division crown with an easy 69-55 victory over Malay Boracay National High School-Aklan in the finals.
Hotshot Alvin Pasaol topscored for Assumption College with 24 points and earned the Most Valuable Player honors.
In the other all-NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) semifinal affair, EAC outlasted Lyceum University of the Philippines, 86-82. The Generals got five triples and 17 points from Igee King, a son of PBA legend Abe King, and 12 points from Cameroon native Noube Happi.
Back-to-back baskets by Joko Tayontong and Aron Anacta gave the Generals an 84-78 advantage with 14 seconds left.
JMC and EAC will contest the championship trophy donated by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) president, with the winner also earning the right to represent the country in the 9th Asian University Basketball Championship (AUBC) to be held in July in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The University of Cebu and LPU will face each other for third place also on Friday.
The 64th NSBC competitions are being supported by CSI the City Mall, Agri-Nurture Inc (ANI), Healthy Options, Sinmag Bakery, Universal Dragons Seeds Corporation and USATV, in coordination with Dagupan City Vice-Mayor Belen Fernandez, the BAP Regional 1 director; Jack Vidal, Chairman of the Board for BAP Regional 1; Noel Osting, BAP Region 1 Board Member; and Seato Gonimil, the assistant secretary general of the Federation of School Sports Association of the Philippines (FESSAP). (with a report from PNA)