IN the second of two “special” tie-breaking games to determine the rankings entering the eight-team quarterfinal playoffs of the 4th Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA) Juniors basketball competitions, Pace Academy and Philippine Cultural College, which owned identical 4-3 win-loss records after the elimination round, face each other today (February 9, 7 p.m.) at the Uno High School gym for the No. 4 seed.
The first game was played last night with two-time defending titlist Saint Jude Catholic School and Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy, slugged it out for the No. 1 seed. Both teams posted a ledger of 6-1 following the single-round elims.
The Pacers-Seagulls encounter has become a best-of-three affair with today’s game serving as the opener.
Today’s victor also will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage against the No. 5 seed in the quarterfinals
Last year’s losing finalist, Philippine Cultural College is an underdog in their duel with Pace Academy not only because it lost seven key players from last season but it also was ambushed by the Pacers in their head-to-head elims encounter, a 75-46 spanking that brought the Seagulls back to earth following a surprising 3-0 start.
Beanpole Daniel Manalang has done it all, with his 15-foot jumper virtually money in the bank. He is averaging 17.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 5.86 blocks and 1.14 steals a game.
Then again, Manalang was held to eight points (his lone game not in twin-digit scores) and nine boards against the Pacers.
Manalang needs a supporting cast that will take some load off the broad shoulders of the 6-foot-2 frontliner.
Shock troopers like playmaker Michael Manansala (11.6 ppg), D’lanor Angelo Tan (with his three-point bombs and 13.4 average), and high-energy guys Rafael Pangilinan (8.6 ppg) Jad Racal (9.9 ppg) and Kyle Ty (7.0 ppg) need to step up big.
Pace Academy, while in the midst of a two-game losing streak, is a slight favorite against PCC because it has a deeper bench and owns Twins Towers as tall as the World Trade Center in 6-foot-6 Shaun Geoffrey Chiu (10.9 ppg, 11.8 rpg, 5.83 bpg) and 6-foot-3 Theodore Getson Lim (4.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg).
In the rotation are point guard de luxe Tyrone Tan (5.0 ppg), a hard-working slasher in Pol Antiporda (16.0 ppg), three-point snipers in Dean Ong (6.7 ppg), Jeff Lugay (8.1 ppg) and Rhicky Alba (7.4 ppg) and hard-hat performers in Jaded Ng (2.9 ppg) and Kelly Lihao (2.0 ppg).
Will it then be a repeat for the Pacers? Or will the Seagulls fly in uncharted territory and score an upset?
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