By Mon Policarpio – Clashes at the mahogany court among Philippine colleges and schools Alumni and friends were in full swing again at the Marrickville Police Citizens Youth Club (PCYC) stadium in at Steel Park in Marrickville , NSW last Sunday 29 March during the start of the 2015 Philippine Colleges and Universities Alumni (PCUA) tournament .
Succeeding games will be on Sunday 12 April and 19 April with the latter being the Semi-final and Grand final day.
Earlier round up report by sportswriter Jimmy Pimentel of www.FilOzinPlay said Jose Rizal University Bombers, the Adamson University Falcons and the Ateneo de Mania University Eagles were ahead in the group scoreboard, the first two with two wins apiece and the third, with a win and a draw record.
The basketball game followed a colourful opening ceremony which featured a parade of eight participating teams, led by their respective muses.
The eight teams and their respective team captains are Angeles University JETS (Byron Murphy); Mapua CARDINALS (Rems Remorozo) Jose Rizal University HEAVY BOMBERS (Noy Maglaque); Tech Pilipinas MECHANICS (Loreto Bagsic); Adamson University FALCONS (Ricky Bautista) Ateneo EAGLES (Roger Mantua); One Lasalle NSW ARCHERS (Joey Reyes), and University of the Philippines MAROONS (Christopher Somera).
Other results show Mapua Cardinals defeating Tech Pilipinas Mechanics ,57 – 32, JRU downing Tech Pilipinas , 50 – 42 ; Angeles Universities Jets strafing the Mapua Cardinals, 76 – 58.
In Group B games, Rizal University Bombers defeated defending champion Angeles Universities Jets, 59-41 with the latter never able to recover from the Bombers onslaught.
In group A action, the Adamson University alumni Falcons stamped themselves as a grand final contender with a 41 – 22 demolition of the UP alumni Maroons. While the much anticipated Ateneo Eagles and One La Salle NSW alumni match ended in a 56-all draw after a see-sawing battle that saw the lead changed hands several times.
The rest of the matches had Adamson Falcons beating One LA Salle NSW, 61-49 and Adamson Falcons demolishing UP Maroons, 63 – 23.
An opening special performance from Team La Salle featured the team chanting it’s AlmaMater sports battle cry “Animo Lasalle” which usually happened in team’s games in college competitions in the Philippine. It was by charismatic supporter and cheerleader El Miguel to the delight of the crowd.
Acknowledgement of team muses saw the announcement of Ms Alyssa Manalo of Adamson Univertsity’s team Falcons as number one beauty followed by Ms Chantelle Torres of Mapua Cardnals, as and Gabby Escubio of Tech Pilipinas, as first and second runner ups, respectively
Individual scoring honours after this round of games went to Mapua Cardinal Jackson Arellano leading the pack with 42 points followed by One LA Salle NSW Archer Mark Franco 40 points, Angeles University Jets Byron Murphy 38 points and Ateneo Sea Eagle Travis Mantua with 35 points.
Adamson University Falcons lead group A with 2 wins no lose and JRU Heavy Bombers pace group B with a 2 win no lose result as well.
The next round of elimination games continues on 12 April and the semis and grand finals on 19 April at PCYC Marrickville from 9 in the morning.
In group A, the Falcons demolished the Maroons, 41-22; the Sea Eagles and the Archers drew, 56-56; the Falcons trounced the Archers 61-49; the Falcons sunk the Maroons, 63-23; and the Ateneo Eagles blasted the Maroons, 63-23. By Mon Policarpio and Bayanihan News.