S AT U R D AY : A U G U S T 2 9, 2 0 1 5
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RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR
REUEL VIDAL A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R
sports@thestandard.com.ph
SPORTS
Selfie. Members of the Gilas Pilipinas Basketball Team, led by Asi Taulava, take a selfie before boarding their plane bound for Taiwan Friday morning. The nationals will take part in the William Jones Cup Basketball Tournament in Taipei as part of their preparations for the FIBA Asia Championships. RUDY C. SANTOS
Red Lions pounce on undermanned Blazers
By Peter Atencio
DEFENDING champion San Beda College pounced on the undermanned College of St. Benilde, which played minus go-to guy Jonathan Grey, en route to an easy 89-63 victory in the National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the San Juan Arena. The win sent the Red Lions to the solo lead with a 9-2 card, as they moved ahead of the Letran Knights, who dropped to second spsot with an 8-2 slate. The Red Lions outrebounded the Blazers, 50-40, courtesy of Arthur dela Cruz, who also had 17 points to lead the Mendiola-based dribblers. The Blazers, who missed Grey after he was removed from the ros-
ARCA South hosts SyncRUNize TURN TO A12
ter for disciplinary reasons, struggled in the second period as the Red Lions began pulling away, 3931, at halftime. Ryusei Koga, one of six Red Lions who finished with double digits, banged in six of his 11 points in the second canto to hand San Beda a sevenpoint lead going into the third frame. “We played good defense in the third quarter. So we were able to pull
away,” said San Beda “I guess we just Games Tuesday (San Juan Arena) coach Jamike Jarin. never gave up. We 10 a.m. • Arellano vs LSGH (jrs) Ranbill Tongco were up at halftime. 12 nn • UPHSD vs LPU (jrs) 2 p.m. • Arellano vs CSB (srs) chipped in seven We knew San Sepoints in the third 4 p.m. • Perpetual Help vs LPU (srs) bastian has a fight as the Red Lions in them, so we just built a comfortable 62-42 entering fought back,” said Lyceum. the final period. In the juniors’ division, Ry de In the other seniors’ match, the la Rosa shot key baskets in the Lyceum Pirates survived a late fourth period to power the defendrally by the San Sebastian Stags to ing champion San Beda Red Cubs prevail, 71-67, for only their third to an 82-70 win over the La Salle victory in ten games. Greenhills Greenies. Shaq Alanes, who finished with John Lagumen had 13 points only six points, made the biggest and Germy Mahinay added 12 basket for the Pirates down the for the Red Cubs, who marched to stretch to hand the Intramuros- their 11th consecutive victory. based cagers a 68-67. In the other juniors’ match, Leeian After the Stags missed on the re- Salazar unloaded 27 points for the turn play, Jeb Bulawan split his char- Lyceum Junior Pirates, who crushed ities with only 10.1 seconds remain- the San Sebastian Staglets, 78-49, and ing as Lyceum stayed on top 69-67. improve their record to 7-3 at fourth.
Floyd jabs back at Ronda TURN TO A14
SBC star excited to play for TNT By Jeric Lopez THE Meralco Bolts got a much-needed boost at the point guard spot after picking San Beda’s Baser Amer during the recent Philippine Basketball Association Draft. And Amer, a former National Collegiate Athletic Association Finals Most Valuable Player, couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of Meralco as he will now have the privilege of playing under legendary coach Norman Black, alongside his basketball idol Jimmy Alapag. The 5’11” Amer, picked 7th overall in the Draft, said that he’s excited to play for Black, who is undoubtedly one of the best coaches in the country. “Sobrang excited talaga ako kasi makakapaglaro ako for coach Norman (Black) and alam naman natin kung gaano siya kagaling,’’ said Amer. He said he is just as excited to play alongside Alapag, his longtime idol and one of the league’s 40 greatest players. “Magiging kakampi ko pa siya (Alapag). Malaking bagay iyon kasi matuturuan niya pa ako,” Amer said. Amer, who is expected to play backup to Alapag in the point guard position for Meralco, said he’s ready for whatever task is at hand. “Ready ako kung ano man ipapagawa sa akin ng mga coaches at ng mga teammates ko. Basta kahit anong maitutulong sa team, ready ako ibigay,’’ said Amer, who received a warm welcome from Black and the rest of the Bolts, saying he feels the veteran coach has given him the trust this early in his pro league career.