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Olympians rising over Mount Olmypus to take the Crown for 7thNAASCU Seniors Basketball
The STI College Olympians has ascended from the depths of Mt. Olympus to the 7th NAASCU Seniors Basketball throne. As it were written in the scriptures, the Olympians beat a determined University of Manila Hawks in game 2 of the Best of three finals...
The National Athletic Association of Schools Colleges and Universities (NAASCU) is a young league that has just finished its 7th season. The NAASCU is positioned as “the third league,” lagging behind the UAAP NCAA since both rival leagues have been in existence for the past 70 years with the most popular amateur players in the country playing for that league. Representing the ten member schools of the NAASCU in the Collegiate Champions League (CCL) is this year’s champion, the STI College Olympians. The Olympians showed their might as they brought down Unigames champion and many time UAAP champion Far Eastern University Tamaraws 77-72 in the round of 8 of the CCL.
Olympian Forward Mark Balneg drained the insurance three pointer with time winding down to give the Olympians a 74-72 lead with just 50 seconds to go. After that, the Olympians stingy defense shut down the Tamaraws in three succeeding plays and coming up with three free throws courtesy of Balneg and veteran point guard Raymond Tiongco to put the game beyond recall
The game started with the Olympians dictating the pace and making an impact right away by controlling the middle through center Howard Flor and igniting fastbreaks off turnovers courtesy of Mike Cabangon that gave them an eight point lead 18-10 and settled for a 20-14 cushion at the end of the first quarter. The Tams then regrouped through JR Cawaling, Mac Baracael Marlon Adolfo and leveled the count by the end of the second quarter at 35-all. The third quarter was a seesaw affair as STI and FEU engaged in a boxing match that saw both schools score in spurts, take slim leads as the quarter ended in another stalemate at 51-all.
The game was close all throughout with the Olympians getting its second wind in the last minute. The win was a team effort as NAASCU MVP Dexter Micutuan scattered 10 points with two triples and four free throws, 7th NAASCU finals game 1 best player Haddi Porto converted a crucial three pointer and gave another good performance in limited minutes. Ramon Mabayo banged bodies, got crucial rebounds and scored inside to stamp his class over the lean and mean Tamaraws as he topscored for the Olympians together with Balneg at 12 pts apeice. Bottomline, it was a team effort that got the win.
Credit goes to the coaching staff for preparing the team well in this game. The Olympians now face the fancied University of Visayas Lancers who are making waves with their team play and hotshot Coach Elmer Cabahug.
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