Patrick James Balubar and Tristan Gad formed a deadly 1-2 punch and Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas smothered two-time champion Diliman College, 96-76, to book its semis ticket in the PG Flex-UCAL Season 8 Basketball Tournament on Thursday, April 9, at the Paco Arena in Manila.
The 6-foot-1 Balubar was almost everywhere, posting 20 points, 9 boards and six assists while Gad broke Diliman’s defense time and again with his torrid outside shooting, making half of his eight 3-point shots to finish with 19 points.
Heroes abound for LPU-B on the day the country celebrated its Day of Valor (Araw ng Kagitingan) as four other players, including the 6-foot-5 Terry Mark, contributed eight points or more.
Philippine Christian University-Dasmarinas also advanced to the semis with a 103-73 drubbing of Manila Central University – thanks to the solid all-around performance of JayR Pronda and Kingsley Anaba.
Pronda also knocked down four triples on the way to 22 points apart from registering 9 assists and 6 rebounds. Anaba used his height advantage to tally 20 points and 20 rebounds plus four assists.
In the semis on Monday, April 13, the Pirates will be pitted against the top-seeded Centro Escolar University Scorpions, while the Dolphins lock horns with No. 2 and reigning titlist Olivarez College.
CEU and Olivarez enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four after finishing 1-2 in the two-phase elims with 10-1 and 8-3 records in the event backed by Akari, Advance Solutions Inc., Smart Sports, Spalding, Quintana Sports, Crane Faucet, Hapee Toothpaste, CafeFrance, Vital, TopFlite Academy, Maruyama, and Gerry’s Grill, Mighty Bond, and Undfitd Sportswear.
Despite the tall order of beating CEU two in a row, the Pirates hold the distinction as the only team in the 9-school league to have beaten the Scorpions in the elims, 79-76.
