HUA Siong College of Iloilo-Lamtex Pipes moved a win away from the inaugural championship in the Fil-Chinese Athletic Association Inc. (FCAAI) 40s Division with a commanding 69-52 victory over Xavier School-Acrocity x Zhoosh last Monday night at The Arena in San Juan.
Ken Bono came alive in the telling third quarter assault for Hua Siong, dropping 11 of his 26 points in his team’s huge 19-3 barrage that flipped the script from a 34-32 deficit to a 51-37 lead with 34 seconds left in the frame.
Bono also grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out two assists to pair up with James Yap’s 22 points, 14 boards, and five assists to keep their team’s quest for a perfect season alive in this alumni league which has PGFlex Linoleum, Cellboy, Triangle Tires, Jiang Nan, BYD Valenzuela, Powerhouse Tools, Hangry Pares, Genius, and Lamtex Pipes serving as co-presenters.
The duo, both of which are former UAAP MVPs, shouldered the load for the Denok Miranda-coached side which saw other key cogs in Leo Canuday and RhagneeSinco limited to just four points apiece.
Hua Siong can close out the best-of-3 series in Game 2 on today, still at the same venue.
But it wasn’t without any resistance.
Xavier, as expected, relied on the pair of Chris Tiu and Joseph Yeo but both were held to just 14 points each and combined for a measly 10-of-36 clip from the field and just six rebounds.
Eldridge Liao did his best to provide support and notched 11 points, seven boards, and two dimes in the losing cause.
Meanwhile, Patterson Ngo saved the day for St. Stephen’s High School-SCAG as it claimed the bronze medal in a 63-62 escape of Grace Christian College-Goodfellow Pharma.
He scored the go-ahead putback for St. Stephen’s with 10.6 seconds left off a Christian Luanzon’s missed three for the biggest of his six points in the one-game battle for third.
Grace still had a chance to win the game but muffed three shots at the basket, with Alex Lao’s late gasp putback coming as time expired.
Luanzon paced St. Stephen’s with 26 points, six rebounds, two assists, and two steals, Jefferson Ong chipped in 13 points and four boards, and Arthur Tiu got 11 points and eight rebounds.
Alvin Bryan Lim topped Grace with 16 points and eight boards, while Albert Edsel Chua flirted with a triple-double with 13 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds in the tough defeat.
