The EKWElizer

UAAP Weekly with Charlie Cuna Episode July 27 2007

A recap of the week’s happenings in the UAAP with Charlie Cuna, Mike Abasolo and Kim Lesaca. The panel discussed the rise of the UE Red Warriors, the Ateneo vs. La Salle game, the UST Growling Tigers 3 straight victories, the NU Bulldogs woes and the rest of the pack – FEU, Adamson and UP

Timeline and Exhibits of a player described as a Good Boy

And now, on with the facts…

Much has been said about the Jojo Duncil issue. A lot of people came out to publicly defend Duncil, while others continue to portray him as a cheat. Even the school where he came from was not spared from all these talks. In some forums, discussions on this issue sometimes turn into ugly debates because the participants are very passionate about their stand.

But the question is: have these people seen the documents before they can make their conclusions? When they participate in these discussions, is it based on facts, or do they just use certain perceptions of those being talked about?

Inboundpass.com is committed to bring out stories that concern college basketball leagues in the country. Some of us in this site may have a thing or two for our alma mater. But more important, this website has committed itself in helping preserve pureness in these leagues by tackling issues that may become detrimental to all concerned in the long run. Such as the Jojo Duncil issue.

I have observed that a lot of people joining the discussions haven’t seen the documents that inboundpass have. Some even speculate on certain pieces of evidences, and eventually these speculations become the “gospel truth”. Through a timeline, inboundpass.com wishes to share the documents and the inside information that we have gathered for your appreciation.

June 5, 2007 – inboundpass.com’s Tony Atayde posts a story of an alleged high profile player from a UAAP school having a tampered birth certificate which will make him ineligible to play in UAAP Season 70

June 7, 2007 – Joselito “Jojo” Duncil files a petition before the Macabebe RTC (through lawyer Victor Rodriguez) to have his birth certificate entry changed, specifically the entry on date of birth from January 13 1982 to January 13 1983. Case no. 07-05-85-M Macabebe RTC.

June 10, 2007 – UST basketball coach Pido Jarencio comes to the defense of his player Jojo Duncil. When asked about Duncil having a tampered birth certificate, Jarencio says that it’s pure hearsay and that the rumor is not true. Jarencio adds that Duncil was born in 1983 according to records submitted to UST, and everything is okay with Jojo.

June 13, 2007 – inboundpass.com secures birth certificate and the Varsity Athletes’ Information System Eligibility Report submitted by UST to the UAAP in school year 2004-05. Both documents state Duncil’s date of birth as January 13 1983.

June 22, 2007 – inboundpass.com secures Duncil’s birth certificate from the National Statistics Office. The document states that he was born January 13 1982. The NSO also vouches authenticity of the birth certificate, stating that the document is a digital copy of the birth certificate coming from the Municipality of Apalit; and that it is the only document concerning Duncil’s birth certificate in their data base. Furthermore, the NSO states that the birth certificate submitted to the UAAP is tampered.

June 25, 2007 – UAAP Eligibility Committee meets; UST submitted a lineup with Duncil in it. But when questioned about the birth certificate, UST presents two birth certificates with NSO authenticity, one with DOB January 13 1982 (the same document secured by inboundpass.com) and another with DOB January 13, 1983.

June 27, 2007 – Duncil was interviewed by inboundpass.com and Philippine Chronicle reporter Josef Ramos; in the taped interview, Duncil vowed to fight tooth and nail over this matter. He claimed that the Municipality of Apalit lost his birth certificate when his sister tried to reprieve it, and that the municipality replaced it with the wrong DOB (January 13, 1982).

June 29, 2007 – UST declares Duncil will turn professional. Here is UST’s press release:

Duncil foregoes final year of eligibility, decides to turn pro.

JOJO Duncil, the 24-year-old who led the Santo Tomas Growling Tigers to an improbable Cinderella finish last year, has decided to forego his final year of UAAP eligibility to join the coming Philippine Basketball Assocation Draft.

The crafty, 6-foot shooting guard got the blessings of school officials and his coach, Pido Jarencio, after a long talk yesterday, with Jarencio saying that he will not in any way “stand in the way of his progress.”

“It is his and his family’s decision,” Jarencio said. “He already served his school well, and with that we are grateful. It’s time for us, as his guardians here (at UST), to support him in his career move.”

A native of Apalit town in Pampanga, Duncil, who won the Finals MVP last season when the Tigers upset the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 2-1, in the title series, was also a vital cog of the Harbour Centre team that won the PBL Unity Cup recently. His contract with the Batang Pier will expire at the end of this month.

“I want to play against the best and it is at this stage of my career where I feel that I can do that,” Duncil, who is the second blue-chip player to skip this year’s UAAP after Adamson’s Ken Bono, said in Filipino. “I am very thankful for UST officials for giving me their blessings.”

The PBA Draft is set in the second week of August and Duncil is expected to be snagged high in the order. Duncil attended practice at the UST gym yesterday to bid teammates farewell and wish them the best in their title defense, which starts Saturday next week.

Bono, the burly 6-foot-5 center who has a soft, accurate touch from the outside, is also reportedly set to enlist in the pool, which could go down as one of the richest in recent years.

July 2, 2007 – UAAP President Fr. Ermito De Sagon answers question on why Jojo Duncil left for the pro ranks.

“Ok, let me answer that. Of course, Jojo Duncil was our player. He was a UAAP player. As far as we are concerned, he is a dead horse and it is useless to talk about a dead horse. Sabi ko nga, kaya tinanggal na lang sa line-up kasi hindi nakaka-excel yung iba. Natatakpan yung ibang player namin kaya iba naman. But really, as far as the controversy is concerned, we know from the family. In fact, Jojo Duncil is the nephew of the rector of UST. So, as far as his person is concerned, we have no doubts against his person. He is a good boy. But the only problem is he has two NSO-certified birth certificates. One will make him ineligible. Kasi kung 1982, ineligible. Kung 1983, eligible. Now, we think that this is, as far as UST is concerned, is an additional burden, an excess load. We don’t want any member of our team to have excess load. It will be a distraction to our games. We don’t want to have games and put into question. Kaya better, mag-pro ka nalang. And of course, as a matter of fact, that was his real intention. He was weighing the possibility of going pro because he was watching the list of those who will go pro. Kasi siyempre, yung player, nakakiramdam din when is the best time to turn pro. Siyempre kung maraming magagaling na mag-turn pro, mahihirapan ka rin. So parang for him, that’s his decision and the family’s decision and we respect it. Sa UST, hindi na namin pinag-uusapan yun.”

July 7, 2007 – Start of UAAP Season 70

July 13, 2007 – As of this date, there’s still no schedule for the special proceeding for Duncil’s petition. The Clerk of Court of Macabebe RTC also said that Duncil has yet to submit the documents needed for his petition.

July 20, 2007 – Mrs. Felicitas Francisco asked for an emergency meeting of the UAAP Board to discuss the UST Rector’s request to let Duncil play this Season. The Board junks the request 7-0 during the said meeting.

I had a chat with a UAAP insider after the meeting, and I’m glad that he was able to answer my queries. When I asked about the basis of the UST Rector’s request, the UAAP insider said that the Rector was “out of the loop” and didn’t see the wisdom of Fr. De Sagon and Mrs. Francisco in deleting Duncil from the list of UAAP players.

When asked about the issue on the birth certificates, the UAAP insider acknowledged that the birth certificate UST submitted to the UAAP in 2002 was a tampered version of the NSO document with DOB January 13, 1982. The UAAP insider added that the other “NSO” document De Sagon was referring to during the July 2 press conference was not similar to the one submitted to the UAAP. So essentially, it was the tampered birth certificate that spelled the difference.

I asked why they have to submit such document to the UAAP if they have an alleged NSO (with DOB 1983) to begin with; the insider simply shrugged and said that its something between UST and Duncil. The insider also gave me the same reply when I asked when that alleged NSO (with DOB 1983) surface. The insider also noted that both NSO documents are authentic; though the insider admits that the birth certificate with DOB 1982 indeed came from the NSO, the insider can only observe the NSO document’s ( the one with DOB 1983) authenticity by looking at the document, and not verifying with the NSO. Maybe the UAAP Board can check with the NSO on this particular document.

When asked if UST was negligent on the matter, especially when the school submitted other documents such as the Athletes’ Information Record with DOB 1983, the UAAP insider simply said that since Duncil will no longer play in the UAAP, then the issue should be between UST and Duncil. But if the issue is discussed in the board room, then the Board will look it up, the insider adds.

What’s interesting is the date when Duncil filed his petition, filing it two days after Tony Atayde first wrote his blind item. Another interesting point is Duncil’s reply during the interview on why he had a birth certificate with DOB 1982, practically blaming the Municipality of Apalit for losing his document and replacing it with a wrong entry on DOB; and his conflicting reply to the UAAP Board (oh yes, the UAAP insider did confirm this) that his birth certificate was indeed altered in 1989 to make it appear that his DOB is January 13 1982 so he can enter elementary school (in 1989).

So there, you have the facts as gathered and compiled by inboundpass.com. I don’t expect everybody to swallow this as gospel truth, especially when some are hurt by it. For it’s been said that the truth may be your friend or your own worst enemy, depending on where you stand. As for inboundpass.com, we take full responsibility in presenting these facts to you. Also, we’d like to encourage you to check out the institutions mentioned if you have any doubts on the veracity of these materials.

UE SHOWS THEY ARE THE TEAM TO BEAT!

UE brought its best game and La Salle its worst and what happened was a complete rout by the Red Warriors.

The expected close game between the unbeaten teams in the league didn’t happen. La Salle was killed by poor defense, careless offense and just plain lackluster play while UE was making all its shots and stopping everything La Salle could throw at them.

It was indeed a very rare meltdown for Archers. It took away the myth that they are a hard team to beat.

The game was going back and forth during the first half but in the 3rd the UE juggernaut started and didn’t look back.

All the UE players were on target on the offense and were all over the place on defense. There were hardy any 2nd chance points for La Salle. There was even one possession that UE had 5 offensive rebounds after which they were able to score a 3 pointer.

Not much to say about the game except that Coach Franz would have to review the game tape and find out what went wrong. UE deserved to win. They just played awesome.

Personally, I find a silver lining in this loss. First, I think the team was starting to get too over confident. Their last game against FEU, didn’t help because it gave the team a false security that they should just play well in the last quarter. Losses like this can be the best teachers.

I was also afraid that La Salle would peak too soon. The best example of peaking too soon is the record of Ateneo having 3 consecutive years where they won 7 straight games in the beginning of each season. However, they never won a championship in any of those years. They always ended up short in the end. On the other hand, last year’s champ, UST, started the season slow and ended with a bang.

I also remember the year La Salle won 13 straight only to lose to Ateneo in the final game of the regular season. That year, La Salle also did not win the championship.

This is probably the strongest field in a long time in the UAAP. That makes this year’s tournament a extremely exciting one.

Game Highlights by Roge Dublin

It was a delightful win for Coach Dindo Pumaren not only because the Red Warriors led by 20 points against De La Salle University Green Archers but because all his game plans were put to good use.

University of the East is now 4-0 after toppling the Archers, 96-76, last July 21 yesterday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

“Everybody played well,” said Coach Dindo after the match. “This is the first time that we had this huge lead over La Salle.”

In the first quarter, both teams started squarely after 5 minutes of play. UE sparked a 10-1 run with 1:58 minutes remaining to push the Red Warriors in front, 20-12. JV Casio’s three-point bomb trimmed the deficit down to 11-point by the end of the first period.

In the second quarter, Casio and Maierhofer nailed three three-pointers that started De La Salle’s comeback to tie the ballgame at 28.

But the Red Warriors pulled off a 7-0 run after an 18-footer by Marcy Arellano and a three-point play finish by Kelvin Gregorio, making it 35-28. Another three-point plays by Maierhofer and Kish Co locked the game at 37. Hans Thiele and Gregorio’s efforts were answered back by James Mangahas and Ty Tang making it a single-point lead for the Red Warriors after the first half, 42-41.

With 6:31 minutes in the third quarter, Jorel Cañizares was left open and nailed a three-pointer that ignited a 7-0 run for the Recto-based club. Paul Lee getting a hefty six points with three minutes to play moved UE further for a 12-point lead, 72-60, after three quarters.

La Salle kept missing shots in the fourth quarter. Only Casio, Maierhofer and Oliver Cua were there to help out. Mark Borboran stepped up nailing two three-pointers plus a steal during the stretch.

Elmer Espiritu nailed a three with 2:48 in the clock and gave the UE a commanding 23-point lead, 91-68. Espiritu made another basket, followed by a three-pointer by Borboran claiming the Red cWarriors’ biggest lead at 26.

De La Salle is now in 2nd place with a 3-1 scorecard. La Salle’s next match will be against its greatest archrival, Ateneo, on Thursday at the Araneta Coliseum. UE’s next game will be against winless UP Fighting Maroons on Saturday, July 28 at Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Individual Scores:

UE- 96

Cañizares-15, Fampulme-11, Gregorio-10, Lee-9, Martinez-9, Espiritu-9, Arellano-9, Borboran-8, Thiele-7, Linganay-6, Llagas-3, Etrone-0, Acuna-0, Bandaying-0, Reyes-0.

La Salle-76

Casio-17, Maierhofer-15, Tang-10, Mangahas-8, Villanueva-6, Cua-6, Walsham-5, Co-5, Malabes-4, Lee-0, Ilad-0, Barua-0.

Quarter Scores:

26-17, 42-41, 72-60, 96-76.

NCAA ManCom to Perpetual: Sorry, Thoyib is not eligible

THE National Collegiate Athletic Association Management Committee (Man Com) has declared officially that Indonesian player Isman Thoyib of University of Perpetual Help Dalta System is not eligible to play in the 83rd NCAA men’s basketball.

Based on the documents obtained by the Man Com, the 6-foot-9 Thoyib had played for the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) in 2006, a commercial league like the Philippine Basketball League (PBL).

The Man Com said the NCAA has a rule that stated: “Any athlete who played in any commercial league prior to his first season is not eligible to play in the NCAA.” The Basketball Association of Indonesia (BASI) also confirmed to the Man Com that Isman played in the IBL.

Isman has been included in the line-up of the Altas along with another Indonesian Ryan Frebyan. Both Frebyan and Korean Sang Myeon Lee, on the other hand are qualified to play in the league.

Three foreign players so far have been playing in the NCAA, including six-foot-eight Nigerian sophomore Samuel Ekwe.

Perpetual coach Arturo “Bai” Cristobal said they might appeal the case, considering that Indonesia has no other league but the IBL. And the IBL took the place of Indonesia’s collegiate basketball.

“There is no malice on our part,” said Cristobal whose charges lost to San Sebastian College, 59-56, in Saturday’s opening day third game.

Versus the Red Lions, how do you defy the odds?

The San Beda College Red Lions, the defending NCAA champs, played good.

The Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers, didn’t even compete. But it is never too late for the blue and yellow Heavy Bombers to show up. It was only an opening game and there are 12 games left to play in this double-round elimination tournament format.

It seems Coach Frankie is so excited to coach this team. In fact, his body language in last Saturday’s opening game were not cool unlike his from the other bench, Ariel Vanguardia.

Vanguardia just told this writer after the game that they failed to match the Red Lions’ strength, although the best way to do now is to prepare themselves against San Sebastian – their next assignment.

Lim, being on the winner side, praised all his players who came up smoking up most of the time to easily manhandle this year’s host team.

He didn’t know what to say during interviews. “I didn’t know what to expect, but my players were really awesome,” he told reporters.

Anyway, there are four effective tips to beat the reigning champs. And these might be:

No. 1: Teams should keep Sam Ekwe out of the shaded lane. You can push him outside or force the 6’8 Ekwe to get the ball outside and quickly surround him with a double-team.

No. 2: Don’t let other players get their range particularly Yousef Aljamal, Rogemar Menor and Pong Escobal. Whole and half court trapping defense are the key to cripple the teams’ offense. I also advise you to limit your use of the zone defense. It will give their shooters open looks to shoot the three.

No 3: Attack the paint. Force their big guys to early foul trouble. Use the old Stockton-to-Malone pick-and-roll plays. Don’t take too many attempts from the outside.

No 4: Don’t let the Red Lions reach 60-70 points.

I have to admit, since Philippine Christian University is out for this season, for me, San Beda College is probably the best team so far. It’s will be difficult to determine whose second best.

The ball is round. An upset, of course, does not choose its place in time. My appreciation and hats-off to Letran College coach Louie Alas and newly-appointed San Sebastian College mentor Jorge Gallent for winning their 83rd debut. Both coaches defeated their separate rivals to join San Beda in win column.

See you at the games.

Blazers topple Growling Tigers in a tune up game

The game was held in a cloudy but humid afternoon at the College of St. Benilde Gym. Both teams played with their full line up. For the Growling Tiger fans, you got Hector Badua, Mark Canlas, Anthony Espiritu, Jun Dizon, Jojo Duncil, Jose Cortez, Soriano, Francis Allera, Chester Taylor, John Paul Cuan, Mirza, Scott and Jervy Cruz. Pido Jarencio was not around so Coach Senen Duenas took over. For the Blazers line-up, check out my NCAA 83 Preview on CSB.

In the 1st quarter, Jojo Duncil started out strong for a 4-2 UST lead. After a very sluggish start by both teams, Francis Allera and Anthony Espiritu took over for a 13-11 UST lead. But the Blazers fought back with Christian Cabatu, Gerald Layug, Martin Urra and Paolo Orbeta at the helm to tie the ball game at 13-all with less than a minute remaining in the 1st. But Mirza came out of nowhere and ended the 1st quarter with the Growling Tigers on top, 15-13.

In the 2nd quarter, Jun Dizon, Soriano and Hector Badua took the pace and surged to a 3-point lead, 23-20. But the Blazers with Garri Sevilla, Orbeta, Urra and William Johnston eventually controlling the tempo with a fastbreak attack and various cuts to the middle, managed to get the driver’s seat and ended the 1st half of action with a 2-point margin, 32-30. Only Allera and Duncil answered for the Growling Tigers in the last 2 minutes of the 2nd quarter.

In the 3rd quarter, after the 3rd and 4th deadlock of the game at 34-all and 38-all respectively, the Growling Tigers grabbed the lead, 40-38 with 4 minutes left in the quarter courtesy of Allera, Mark Canlas and Jervy Cruz. Sevilla then tied the ball game again for the last time at 43-all. Sevilla again and buzzer beater by Harvey Porras gave the Blazers a 3-point edge, 48-45 by the end of the 3rd.

In the 4th Quarter, Jeffrey Morial, Cabatu, Orbeta, Archimedes David and Porras ignited a strong quarter to give the Blazers a 10-point lead, 67-57 (biggest CSB margin was at 11) with less than 2 minutes remaining in tune-up regulation. The effort from UST’s Allera, Badua, Dizon, Espiritu were not enough and CSB cruised past the defending UAAP Champs, 78-66.

NCAA 83: San Sebastian wins in ‘ugly game’

CALL it a low-scoring ugly game.

San Sebastian College-Recolletos displayed toughness in the crucial minutes to prevail against University of Perpetual Help-Dalta System in an ugly game on Saturday at the opening of 83rd NCAA men’s basketball at the Araneta Coliseum.

Even though no players were able to make double figures in scoring, the Golden Stags relied on their stifling defense particularly late in the game to much the Altas’ suffocating defense and hustles.

San Sebastian College, after trailing by 11-15 at first period, engaged Perpetual to a close fight in the next canto where they ended tied at halftime, 28-all. Both teams were tied six times and the games resulted to 10 lead changes.

The Altas grabbed the upper-hand at the end of the third quarter, 46-45, but the Stags fought back to keep the game in striking distance. Perpetual’s forward Nat Salanga gave his team its last lead, 48-46, with 6:39 left after a put-back.

Then, San Sebastian College unleashed a fiery 10-2 run in the remaining minutes sparked by Franz Delgado’s three-point bomb in the last 5:31 to seize the edge, 49-48.

Dave Nojorda, the younger brother of PBA hotshot Leo, scored three straight points to increase the lead of the Stags, 52-48, before power forward Rommel Balboa made it 52-50 in the ensuing play.

Najorda and John Raymundo scored basket each to stretch San Sebastian College ’s advantage to 56-50 in the final 1:11 and Perpetual couldn’t answer when it mattered most.

Michael Kong scored a useless triple with eight ticks left, but Jason Ballesteros responded in the foul line with two free throws for a 58-53 lead.

Another trey hit by Sang Lee with two ticks left to slice the deficit to 56-58, but Najorda’s split free throw pegged the final count as San Sebastian College joined early winners Letran College and San Beda College in the win column.

“We tried to contain them defensively even if our offensive game was suffering,” said newly-appointed San Sebastian College head coach Jorge Gallent, the coach of the grand- slam PBL champion Harbour Centre.

“I just told the guys to toughen up on defense. And I’m happy my players were not frustrated even if they struggled offensively,” he said. “Anyway, it’s only our first game we still need to play better.”

PBL mainstays Jim Viray and Allan Ballesteros, who grabbed 10 rebounds, merged for 18 points while John Raymundo, Gilbert Bulawan and Juanito Quiamco registered seven points each also for the Golden Stags.

Perpetual led the rebounding, 38-33, but San Sebastian College was ahead in steals (10-3) and blocks (5-0).

The individual scores:

SSC-R (59) Ballesteros 9, Viray 9, Raymundo 7, Bulawan 7, Quiamco 7, Zulueta 6, Delgado 5, Aquino 5, Najorda 4, Del Rio 0, De Leon 0, Saquillo 0.

UPHD (56) Reyes 13, Balboa 12, Lee 9, Ynion 6, Kong 6, Liaz 5, Salanga 4, Manuel 1, Joe 0, Dysam 0.

Quarter scores: 11-15; 28-28; 45-46; 59-56

NCAA 83 Opening: Knights tame Cardinals

After a series of lead changes plus players that were headed for the showers, the Letran Knights prevailed over the Mapua Cardinals in the second game of the 83rd season of the NCAA in Araneta Coliseum yesterday. The Knights finished off a hotly contested game, 84-80.

Both teams started off squarely with Letran only leading up to five points in the first 6 minutes of the 1st quarter. But with 3:45 minutes remaining, Anjo Latonio instantly fired a three-pointer. Followed by back to back baskets from Reymar Gutilban and King Cabonce, respectively, to spark a 7-0 run. Latonio and Cabonce’s combination again lifted Letran to give the Cardinals a 12-point deficit with 1:07 minutes left. In the last 50 seconds of the quarter, Jerbs Del Rosario and Sean Co made two points each but could only cut the Knights’ lead to eight, 22-14.

In the 2nd quarter, the Cardinals seemed to have warmed up as they exploded to a 10-0 run during the first 4:15 minutes of regulation. The run marked the 2nd deadlock of the game at 24. RJ Jazul immediately denied Mapua’s rage by completing a shot from behind the arc. Macky Acosta and TG Guillermo answered back to get the lead back on Mapua’s side. Rey Dangcal notched a field goal and a free throw, and the lead was back to 2, in favor of Letran.

With 1:13 minutes left, Kase Dela Peña’s free throw shots posted the 3rd deadlock of the game at 31. Ton Pascual scored with 0:42 seconds remaining but Jazul was left open and nailed a three that concluded the 1st half with Letran ahead by a point, 34-33.

Dela Peña, Del Rosario J., and Guillermo fueled up Coach Leo Isaac’s Mapua squad in the third quarter while power forwards Daa and Latonio led the Knights. The 3rd quarter witnessed a furry of basket exchanges.

With 6:15 minutes on the clock, Daa made back to back field goals which brought the lead up to 7 points, 47-40. But the MIT tandem of Guillermo and Dela Peña’s pushed them to within three, 47-44. Daa tried to pull the lead up again with a shot from the field but Dela Peña responded with a quick three to make it a 2-point ballgame.

However, Latonio, Co and Kojack Melegrito were there to save the day. They ignited a 10-0 run for the Knights, 57-47, with 3:13 minutes left to play in the 3rd quarter.

But Mapua was far from giving up. Acosta was fouled with 48.2 seconds left. He converted his free throws 2/2, which cut the lead down to nine, 64-55. With less than 20 seconds remaining, he nailed another two from the field. With 15 seconds left, a double technical was called against Mikko Quinday of Letran, and Guillermo of Mapua, who fouled out of the game. Both teams missed their free throws and the score remained at 64-57. With 2 seconds remaining, Acosta notched another basket and ended the quarter with only a 5-point deficit for the Cardinals, 64-59.

Letran was on fire by the start of the 4th quarter. With 8:56 minutes on the clock, Jazul finished a three and Quinday followed up with another to clinch a 74-62 lead. Pascual’s attempt to cut the lead was denied by Quinday, keeping it a 12-point lead for the Knights.

With 5:31 minutes left, Acosta’s two-point basket was followed by a shot from Pascual. Another powerful finish from Pascual cut the lead down to seven with only 2:28 minutes left to play. Daa’s two points received an immediate response from Mapua which installed a fantastic 8-0 run, after Pascual and Tan Banal both completed their three-point plays. The lead was down to a point, 81-80 for Letran. However, Jazul was fouled twice with less than 18.0 seconds left. He made 2/4 FTs. Del Rosario also made 1/2 free throws, ending the game in an 84-80 victory for the brave Knights.

Meanwhile, Coach Louie Francisco applauded his players for having such a great offense, and for just enjoying the game. “Hope we can sustain another quality offense in our succeding games” added the Letran Coach.

1st in 82 years: NCAA Championship Rings Approved

HOST Jose Rizal University wants championship rings, like the NBA, in the 83rd National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which will be released during this season.

The rings will be for the members of the champion teams from the senior and junior basketball tournaments. Members of NBA champion teams each receive a gold ring that officials call “the championship ring.”

Paul Supan, the athletic director of host Jose Rizal University , told inboundpass.com yesterday that the NCAA policy board had unanimously approved the proposal. “Our school president (Vincent K. Fabella) informed me on Monday that they already approved our ring proposal starting this season,” said Supan.

Supan said the NCAA championship rings will be initially awarded to the seniors basketball team champion for this season. Supan also said the policy board had approved the insurance of some 1,500 athletes competing in the 83rd NCAA season that begins on June 23 at the Araneta Coliseum.

Fabella, the policy board chairman, presided over the meeting at the JRU offices last Monday attended by the school presidents of the NCAA member-schools Letran, San Sebastian , San Beda, JRU, College of St. Benilde , University of Perpetual Help and Mapua.