IT will be Philippine Cultural College against upset-conscious Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy in the best-of-three finals of the Aspirants Open Division in the first Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA) basketball competitions.
To be held at the Uno High School Gym in Manila, the title series opener will be played on Wednesday, February 19 (6:30 p.m.), right after the third-place duel between Saint Jude Catholic School and Pace Academy.
The second-seeded PCC Seagulls made short work of the third-seeded Pace Academy Pacers in the semifinals, registering an easy 92-43 decision behind gangling center Daniel Manalang’s 20-point, 14-rebound, 2-block performance. Manalang had tallied no more than six points in his previous eight assignments.
Fifth seed MGC-NLCA, on the other hand, survived four consecutive games facing elimination to arrange a championship duel with PCC. MGC-NLCA needed to beat No. 1 seed and erstwhile unblemished Saint Jude Catholic School twice in their semis and it did just that, winning 72-66 on Saturday and 48-45 on Sunday in the rubber match.
Earlier, in the quarterfinals, MGC-NLCA also overcame a twice-to-beat advantage by No. 4 seed Icure-Jubilee Christian Academy with back-to-back victories.Something has to give when red-hot teams PCC (8-1) and MGC-NLCA (7-4) clash in the finals.
The Seagulls currently own a six-game winning streak and MGC-NLCA has not tasted defeat in its last five assignments. PCC has a height advantage against MGC-NLCA and is the slight favorite to romp away with the Aspirants crown in the six-week, eight-school tournament featuring players aged 13 and under.
PCC, whose solitary loss came against SJCS during the elimination phase, is built around long-range bombers Jharles Uy and Lian Dy and mastodons Manalang and John Santos in a Twin Towers combination.
With a balanced offense, the Seagulls have six players averaging between five and 10 points per game. They are Uy, 10.0 ppg; Dy, 8.6; Santos, 8.1; Angelo Tan, 6.7; Manalang, 5.1; and Michael Manansala, 5.0.
MGC-NLCA has its own advantages. It owns a deeper bench and appears to have the more agile players. The team has bruising frontliners in William Tan and Bohden Si, quick slashers in John Angping and Patrick Uy and a trio of long-range sharpshooters in Aaron Sy, Mikel Go and Ike Lim.
MGC-NLCA also subscribes to the share-the-offensive-wealth philosophy as seven of its players are producing at least five points every time out.
Patrick Uy leads the pack with 9.5 ppg, including a tournament high of 30 vs. St. Jude in their first semifinal encounter.
The other top scorers for MGC-NLCA are Angping, 9.2 ppg; Lao, 9.1; Go, 8.9; Sy, 6.8; Lim, 6.6; and Si, 5.1. Game Two of the finals will be held on Saturday, February 22 (10 a.m.). Should a third game be necessary, it would be played on Wednesday, February 26 (5 p.m.).