COLEGIO de San Lorenzo-V Hotel edged Emilio Aguinaldo College, 72-69, and Wang’s Ballclub outsteadied Victoria Sports-MLQU, 76-74, in a pair of exciting matches in the 2017 MBL Open basketball championship at the EAC Sports Center in Manila.
The Blue Griffins unveiled a gem of an import in Chabi Soulmane to beat the Generals in a tense and closely-fought encounter between two collegiate teams with solid sports program.
Soulmane, a 6’6” standout from Benin, Nigeria, asserted himself in the shaded area to finish with 19 points in his debut in the tournament sponsored by Smart Sports, Ironcon Builders, Star Bread, Dickies Underwear and Gerry’s Grill.
Soulmane also teamed up with NCRUCLAA MVP Jun Gabriel to provide the backbone for the rock-solid defense of the Blue Griffins of coach Boni Garcia and manager Jimi Lim.
Jethro Mendoza and Jeanu Gano carried the fight for the Generals with 27 points between them.
Later, Wang’s relied on the troika of Michael Juico, Mark Montuano and Jeff Tayongtong to survive Victoria-MLQU and improve to 2-1.
Juico fired 18 points, including 10 in the first quarter.
Montuano and Tayongtong added 17 points apiece for Wang’s of coach Pablo Lucas and managers Alex Wang and Noel Barraquio.
Patrick Asturiano paced the Rainier Carpio-mentored Stallions with 21 markers.
MLQU had two chances to win the game, but missed two well-contested three-point shots as the time expired.
The scores:
First game
CDSL-V Hotel (72)—Soulmane 19, Vargas 9, Callano 9, Formento 8, Gabriel 7, Castanaros 5, Alvarado 4, Borja 3, Paclarin 2, Maravilla 2, Rosas 2, Burata 2, Laman 0, Astero 0.
EAC (69)—Mendoza 14, Gano 13, Tampoc 10, Umali 8, Cadua 7, Robin 5, Diego 4, Ubay 3, Aguas 2, Martin 2, Estacio 1, Altiche 0, Natividad 0, Gonzales 0, General 0.
Quarterscores: 14-20, 38-37, 59-52, 72-69
Second game
Wang’s Ballclub-Asia Tech (76) — Juico 18, Montuano 17, Tayongtong 17, Montemayor 12, Publico 6, L.Lucas 3, J.Lucas 3, King 0, Rellores 0, Sabalza 0, Padua 0.
Victoria Sports-MLQU (74 )– Asturiano 21, Grimaldo 19, Lao 12, Rivera 6, Sumay 5, Dela Cru 5, Decano 4, Acsayan 2, Jamila 0, Fabila 0, Penascosas 0.
Quarterscores: 22-16, 36-34, 61-55, 76-74.