St. John’s Institute Team A forced a rubber match against STI West Negros University, 82-65, in the semi-finals Feb. 26 of the 1st United Basketball League Aspirants Basketball Cup 2023 at the Bacolod Tay Tung High School Gym.
SJI A shattered the cloak of invincibility of the Junior Mustangs and will try to complete the upset March 2 at the Luis T. Ong Sports Pavillon or the SJI Ayala Gymnasium.
Meanwhile, Bacolod Tay Tung High School coasted to its 9th straight win to advance to the finals with a dominant win against USLS, 81-41. The BTTHS squad defeated all their opponents by double digit in the tournament.
It was a nip and tuck battle in the first half with SJI A holding a slim 35-34 advantage at the half as Santino Miguel Loretizo and Ryton Celis combined for 17 points, while Brent Jandy Yanong, Kyle Matthew Barrieta and Kyle Francis Bayog kept the game close with 7 points apience.
STI-WNU snatched the lead early in the third quarter as Barrieta and Jovel Thomas Gonzales drilled back-to-back triple for a 43-41 advantage.
Marlowe John Keith Alacapa and Loretizo conspired on a 9-0 SJI A run to restore the lead, while Lorenzo Joaquin Lacson strung up five straight points at the close of the quarter for a 58-48 advantage going to the fourth quarter.
Forced shots coupled with turnovers hounded STI-WNU in the payoff quarter as their attempt to reverse the outcome of the game fell short.
Lacson inside-outside attack netted him 12 points in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a back-to-back treys to help SJI established its biggest lead in the game at 82-61 with 1:20 left.
Lacson paced SJI A with 24 points, Loretizo finished with 16 markers, Celis shot 14 points, Alacapa contributed 9, and Shaun Ryan Canino delivered 6 points.
STI-WNU was led by Bayog and Gonzales with 11 points apiece, while Andrei Louise Sto. Tomas and Barrieta scored 9 points each.
In the other semi-final match-up, Adrian James Alagaban and Rey Frederick Uy scored 5 points each in the opening quarter to give BTTHS a 24-11 lead.
USLS tried to stay close with John Carl Lamonte hitting 6 points, but Alagaban and Dave Matthew Recodo responded with 8 points each to give the Tay Tung Thunderbots a comfortable 52-22 lead at the end of first half.
Recodo finished the game with 16 points to lead BTTHS Team A, while Alagaban tallied 15 points and Francis John Lamasan with 9 points.
Lamonte scored 14 points for USLS, John Troy Newman added 7, and Reagan Charles Jamero with 6 points. | with photos from Alan Su
