Riera U. Mallari, Editor Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor sports@thestandard.com.ph sports_mstandard@yahoo.com
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2017
Arellano battles SSC
Sports
Games Today
(Filoil Flying V Center) 12 p.m.- Perpetual Help vs LPU (jrs) 3:30 p.m.- Arellano U vs San Sebastian (women’s)
ARELLANO University seeks to ride the crest of its emphatic Game One victory while San Sebastian hopes to bounce back from its lethargic performance as the two collide today in the women’s division finals of the 92nd NCAA volleyball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan City. Relying on their rock solid blocking and superb court coverage, the Lady Chiefs overpowered the once unbeaten Lady Stags, 25-18, 25-20, 25-16, Tuesday to reduce the series to a two-to-win showdown. Game time is at 3:30 p.m. “Our game plan is the same except we need to adjust to whatever adjustment they will make,” said Arellano U coach Obet Javier in Filipino. Arellano U limited reigning backto-back MVP Grethcel Soltones to just 15 hits while shackling the rest of San Sebastian’s spikers. San Sebastian mentor Roger Gorayeb, whose charges swept the elimination round to advance straight to the finals along with the thrice-to-beat edge that goes with it, was disappointed but said it is not yet to late to bounce back. “We have to have the mindset to win the championship if we want to win one. We can’t win a championship if we play like the way we played in Game One,” said Gorayeb. In juniors’ play, Perpetual Help aims to sustain the momentum of its 25-21, 25-18, 25-22 triumph Tuesday as it tangles with Lyceum of the Philippines U at 12 noon. Thanks to the series-opening win, the Junior Altas have evened things up as they negated the Junior Pirates’ thrice-to-beat advantage. Games Three is on Tuesday while a deciding Game Four, if necessary, is on Feb. 16.
San Sebastian College star player Grethcel Soltones (center) spikes the volleyball between Arellano University blockers Andrea Marzan and Rialen Sante. SSC and Arellano continue their NCAA title playoff. Roman Prospero
Golden State Warriors crush short-handed Bulls L
OS ANGELES—The Golden State Warriors bounced back in a big way Wednesday, romping to a wire-to-wire 123-92 NBA victory over the under-manned Chicago Bulls in Oakland. Klay Thompson celebrated his 27th birthday by sinking six threepointers en route to a game-high 28 points for the Warriors, who were shocked by the Kings in Sacramento on Saturday. The Warriors haven’t lost backto-back games since April of 2015. Kevin Durant scored 22 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and handed out seven assists and
Draymond Green added 19 points as the Warriors improved their league-leading record to 44-8. Stephen Curry had a quiet night, scoring 13 points to see his streak of consecutive games of 20 or more end at 16. That didn’t matter against a Bulls team missing All-Star forward Jimmy Butler because of a bruised heel and veteran guard
Dwyane Wade, who stayed at the team hotel because of an upper respiratory illness. Meanwhile, the Miami Heat extended their winning streak to 12 games with a 106-88 victory over the Bucks in Milwaukee. Hassan Whiteside scored 23 points and James Johnson added 20 for Miami, who held Milwaukee to 47.1 percent shooting. The Heat were a slightly better 47.7 percent from the floor, but made 11 of 33 three-point attempts and pulled down 14 offensive rebounds. The defeat was especially painful for the Bucks, who saw Jabari Parker depart with a
sprained left knee after a drive to the basket in the third quarter. Parker, who scored 14 points, had to be helped off the court and didn’t return. The Memphis Grizzlies’ dominant defense was on display in a 110-91 home win over the Phoenix Suns. The Grizzlies held the Suns to 33 percent shooting—21.7 percent from three-point range—in a game that saw three players tossed late in the fourth quarter. Devin Booker, who led the Suns with 20 points, fouled Memphis reserve Troy Daniels with 1:10 remaining. Their heated exchange drew in a welter of
players, with Daniels shoving Phoenix’s Tyler Ulis before officials and coaches stepped in. Ulis, Suns teammate Marquese Chriss and Daniels were ejected and a total of six technical fouls handed out. “You talk trash sometimes,” Booker said. “I don’t know why he’d be talking to me. He’s been on five teams in three years and he has the nerve to talk trash to me?” Courtside in New York, former Knick Charles Oakley was restrained by Madison Square Garden security personnel and then taken into custody by police after an angry outburst. AFP
Ting fights crucial match MALAYSIAN-KIWI sensation Ev “E.T.” faces a crucial test in his career when he fights Kamal Shalorus at ONE: Throne of Tigers on February 10 at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur. Ting (12-3) is one of the top talents in ONE Championship’s budding lightweight division. He has competed against some of the biggest names in the promotion, and is a winner of six of his last seven fights, losing only to ONE Featherweight World Champion Marat Gafurov. Now, Ting finds himself one step closer to a title shot in the Lightweight division. But Shalorus stands in his way. If Ting can defeat Shalorus, it will say a lot about where he’s at in his career. Whether or not he’s ready to take the next step, only the cage can determine. Shalorus also has a lot at stake when he fights Ting. Jim Miller, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rafael dos Anjos, Edu-
Ev “E.T.” Ting
ard Folayang, Ariel Sexton, and Shinya Aoki—no, this is not a list of top lightweights in MMA. This is a list of the last six guys Kamal Shalorus shared the cage with. Shalorus is one of the world’s best lightweights, win or lose, which is why so many top guys want to test their skills against him. He’s well-rounded both in
the striking and grappling aspect, and will provide the ultimate test for rising star Ev Ting. Yet while Ting is fighting in front of his hometown crowd, looking to make a statement in possibly securing a title shot at lightweight, Shalorus has other things on his mind. For Shalorus, the fight represents a comeback.
PSA confers Tony Siddayao Awards on young athletes FOUR bemedalled swimmers lead 10 young outstanding athletes who will be recognized with the Tony Siddayao Awards during the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Annual Awards Night presented by San Miguel and MILO at the LE PAVILLION next week. Palarong Pambansa standout Maurice Sacho Ilustre banners the latest batch of honorees by the country’s oldest media organization to be bestowed with the award named after the late Manila Standard sports editor Tony Siddayao, considered as the ‘Dean of Philippine sportswriting.’ The award is given to exceptional athletes 17 years old and below. Apart from Ilustre, the other swimmers to be honored in the Feb. 13 gala night co-presented by CIGNAL/HYPER HD are Jerard Dominic Jacinto, Marc Bryan Dula, and Micaela Jasmine Mojdeh.
Gymnast Ancilla Mari Manzano, karter Khaz Romoff, skater Arielle Pascual, and triathletes Tara Borlan and Samantha Borlain complete the ‘Siddayao list’ of awardees in the annual rite which has for major sponsors the Philippine Sports Commission, Smart, Rain or Shine, Mighty Sports, Globalport, ICTSI, Foton, Gold Toe, and Phoenix Petroleum. Among noted winners of the award in the past years include Wesley So (chess), Kiefer Ravena (basketball), Norbert Torres (basketball), Dottie Ardina (golf), Ken Alieson Omengan (wushu), and Malvinne Ann Alcala (badminton) Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz is the choice as 2016 Athlete of the Year. She is on top of the 92-man list of awardees to be honored in the yearly rite also backed by the Philippine Basketball Association, SM Prime Holdings Inc., ACCEL, MVP Sports Foundation, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, NLEX, Meralco, and Federal Land.