#UAAP77 Juniors Basketball Roundup: November 29, 2014

The UAAP Season 77 Juniors Basketball Tournament opened yesterday at the Blue Eagle Gym inside the sprawling Ateneo de Manila campus, and hoop nuts were treated to a lot of excitement right off the bat.

The big winners were the defending champion NU Bullpups and title contender Ateneo de Manila HS, who defeated the FEU Baby Tamaraws and De La Salle Zobel Junior Archers respectively.

In the other games, Adamson and UPIS came out with Ws, too, beating the UST Tiger Cubs and UE Pages respectively.

UAAP Season 77 Juniors action finally kicked off yesterday!

Here are the game capsules and box scores:
Unless otherwise specified, photo credit goes to Chris Ruzol of Rivals.ph.

ADAMSON over UST, 75-69
AdU 75 – Egan 14, Pasturan 12, Tungcab 12, Antiporda 8, Calacalsada 8, Binarao 7, Sasuman 6, Cabanilla 6, Zaldivar 2, Fernandez 0, Boac 0, Agbong 0.
UST 69 – Mayor 12, Jison 11, Santos 11, Lorenzana 8, Luna 8, Montes 6, Salinas 4, Luna 4, Lapena 4, Marcelo 1, Navarro 0, Pascual 0, Ferrer 0, Narvasa 0, Balingit 0.
QS: 25-10, 43-33, 55-49, 75-69.
- In the first game, the Baby Falcons leaned on a fast start and sustained the pressure the rest of the way, upending the UST Tiger Cubs, 75-69. Jhon Egan led the way with 14 points and 5 rebounds, while James Pasturan and Fred Tungcab each dropped a dozen markers for Adamson. UST grossly outrebounded the Baby Falcons here, 56-41, but the Cubs were hampered by 29 turnovers, which led to 22 points off turnovers for Adamson. John Roald Mayor paced the losing side with 12 points, while Miguel Jison and Kin Santos each tallied 11 markers.

UPIS over US, 67-54
UPIS 67 – Lina 15, Barraquias 10, Barles 7, Lagahit 7, Gomez de Liano Ja. 6, Gregorio 6, Tupaz 4, Labao 4, Gomez de Liano Ju. 3, Gomez de Liano Jo. 3, Estrera 2, Vergiere 2, Santiago 0.
UE 54 – Garcia 15, Dagunan 15, Publico 8, Bautista 6, Calizo 4, Contorno 3, Correche 2, Viajar 1, Vinte 0, Salta 0, Palanas 0, Balagot 0, Morelos 0.
QS: 16-13, 39-21, 56-39, 67-54.
- In game two, the vastly improved UPIS Junior Fighting Maroons led by as many as 23 points in their rout of the UE Pages, 67-54. Coach Allan Gregorio’s wards dominated the boards, 63-49, and enjoyed better playmaking (24-4 in assists) in their maiden win of the season. Bryan Lina led the Diliman quintet with 15 points on 6/8 FG shooting, while Julius Barraquias came off the bench to drop 10 markers. Javi Gomez de Liano and Joselle Tupaz combined to grab 23 rebounds, underscoring UPIS’s tremendous effort to clean the glass. On the other end, UE saw Carlo Garcia and Paul Dagunan each tally 15 points, while Nero Bautista hauled down 14 caroms.

Javi Gomez de Liano and Josh Calizo battle for the tip.
(image by Warner Romualdo David)

Bryan Lina of UPIS tries to get past Carlo Garcia of UE.
(image by Warner Romualdo David)

NU over FEU-FERN, 71-66 (OT)
NU 71 – Manalang 13, Mina 13, Dyke 11, De Guzman 11, Sta. Ana 9, Clemente 5, Claveria 4, Baltazar 3, Callejo 2, Penano 0, Calma 0, Ferreras 0, Saquian 0.
FEU-FERN 66 – Lee 16, Fajarito 15, Bienes 10, Comboy 10, Lloren 10, Peromingan 3, Aquino 2, Longalong 0, Harrow 0, Khatri 0, Ibaňez 0, Pineda 0.
QS: 11-10, 29-22, 42-41, 58-58, 71-66 OT.
- In what was easily the most nail-biting match of the day, the NU Bullpups enjoyed a measure of vengeance in their overtime win over the FEU-FERN Baby Tamaraws, 71-66. Just a week ago, the result was very different, as the Baby Tams scraped by the Bullpups in the 2014 PSSBC’s battle for third place, and it sure looked like history might have repeated itself here, especially after Christian Fajarito canned two charities to send the game into an extra inning. Perimeter players Philip Manalang, Allen Mina, and Oliver De Guzman came through for coach Jeff Napa’s crew, though, nailing big shots in the overtime session to frustrate coach Michael Oliver’s Baby Tamaraws. Manalang and Mina each scored 13 points to lead the way for NU, which also enjoyed 11 markers apiece from De Guzman and Batang Gilas big man Mark Dyke. Fajarito was the most efficient player for FEU in this one, registering 15 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks, while Marvin Lee led the way with 16 markers on the strength of three treys. Lee, however, fouled out early in the fourth quarter.

Christian Fajarito and Justine Baltazar battle for the rebound.

Wendell Comboy pulls up over Philip Manalang.

AHS over DLSZ, 68-57
ADMU 68 – Nieto Mi. 20, Mendoza 12, Nieto Ma. 10, Joson 10, Salandanan 6, Mamuyac 4, Ramos 2, Andrade 2, Hassan 2, Eustaquio 0, Ildefonso 0, Termoso 0, Gatmaitan 0, Bernardo 0, Moreno 0, Rosales 0.
DLSZ 57 – Melecio Alj. 17, Melecio Ale. 10, Banzon 10, Webb 6, Fortuna 5, Romero 4, Tongco 2, Paraiso 2, Rabat 1, Cabarrus 0, Isaac 0, Francisco 0.
QS: 23-10, 37-19, 53-35, 68-57.
- In the day’s final game, title contender Ateneo High School squandered a 21-point lead and let the upstart Junior Archers climb back within seven points with under four minutes left. The Blue Eaglets were able to keep their head afloat just enough, though, to officially notch their first victory of the season, 68-57. Coach Joe Silva’s wards started like a house on fire in this game, draining three triples in the first five minutes to lead, 15-4, and cause coach Boris Aldeguer to sue for time. It didn’t help the Junior Archers much, however, as the Eaglets kept the pressure up, building their biggest lead after Grade 12 guard Marc Salandanan drained his first triple of the season, 48-37, with about 5 minutes to go in the third stanza. The Ateneans seemed to relax after that, though, leaving the door ajar for the Junior Archers’ furious fourth quarter rally, which was capped by Aleck Melecio’s fastbreak lay-up that trimmed the deficit to just seven, 61-54. Ateneo’s starters restored order after that, though, and preserved the win for the Katipunan five. As expected, Ateneo’s trio of Batang Gilas stars — Mike Nieto, Matt Nieto, and Jolo Mendoza — led the way with a combined 42 points, while Grade 11 guard Enzo Joson pocketed 10 markers of his own. Aljun Melecio paced Zobel with 17 points on the other end, while older brother Aleck and Quinito Banzon each added 10.