IT’S the top two seeds in both the 12-Under and Juniors divisions that will dispute the titles at stake in the Mondes Cup 12th Filipino Chinese Schools Alliance Basketball League to be held on Sunday at the Philippine Chen Kuang High School gym in San Juan City.
The twin championship matches will pit unbeaten Philippine Institute of Quezon City against MGC New Life Christian Academy in the 12-under event and defending titlist and unblemished Philippine Chen Kuang High School vs. Philippine Sun Yat Sen High School in the Juniors competitions supported by Edmond Lim of Mondes Hair Color, New Spec Computer, Planet General Merchandise, Jumbolita Homeward, Catstar Suspension Parts, Surer, Arrowband Aluminum, Nash Coffee, Rspec Automatic Brake, Xarion, Godspeed Sports and the local distributor of Spalding, the official basketball of the one-month festivities.
PCKHS and PSYSHS arranged a titular showdown in the Juniors division by defeating their respective semifinal opponents over the weekend. The Chen Kuang Huskies, who are 6-0 in the tourney, ousted Chiang Kai Shek College Scout, 85-70, and Sun Yat Sen eliminated MGC New Life Christian Academy, 83-76.
Joshua Jugar, a former Nazareth School National University Bullpup in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP), topped the Huskies with 24 points and 16 rebounds. Three of his mates also tallied in twin figures – Carl Chan, 22; Nestor Cyrus Ramos, 21; and Paolo Lu, 10. Paolo’s younger brother, 6-foot-4 Don Anton Lu, had settled for nine points, 10 boards and six blocks.
Chiang Kai Shek College Scout was bannered by 16-under National Team member Rafael Go, who collected 20 markers and 12 reebies.
In the other semifinal duel, Sun Yat Sen overcame a nine-point (71-62) deficit in the final 4.5 minutes behind the heroics of Jericho Guadalupe, who chalked up a pair of three-point plays and totaled eight points the rest of the way for an 83-76 triumph. Guadalupe finished with 17 markers.
MGC NLCA, which will play CKSC Scout in the third-place game, got 28 points from Ike Jordan Lim.
Cheng Kuang’s Big Four – Jugar (26.2 ppg, 9.8 rpg, 3.40 spg), Ramos (17.2 ppg, 2.33 spg), Chan (17 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.60 spg) and Anton Lu (12.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 3.17 spg, 2.33 bpg) – will be the key players to the Huskies’ title-retention quest.
The 6-foot-2 Jugar, who needs to avoid foul trouble at crunch time, was a member of the Nazareth School National University Bullpups unit that beat De La Salle-Zobel (2-1 in the Finals) for the UAAP Juniors crown in 2015. Jugar and Anton Lu make up the Huskies’ intimidating Twin Towers combination, Chan is the triggerman from beyond the arc while Ramos is the straw that stirs PCKHS’ drink. Coaching the team is Streamson De La Cruz.
Meanwhile, five players are averaging eight points or more for Sun Yat Sen. These are hard-driving Guadalupe (16.4 ppg, 5.0 rpg), Joseph Villanueva (11.3 ppg, 9.9 rpg), John Kenneth Chiu (10.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg), three-point artist Dwight Cortez (8.7 ppg) and Andrew Tabalno (8.2 ppg).
During the elimination round, Chen Kuang survived a last-ditch rally by Sun Yat Sen before registering a 92-85 victory behind the late-game heroics of Chan.
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