POWER TRIO LIFTS LPU JR. PIRATES TO HUGE SECOND HALF, DEALS CSB-LSGH GREENIES THEIR THIRD DEFEAT

By John Mark Herrera - Published August 16, 2018 


As expected, each game in the juniors basketball tournament won't come easy, regardless of where the teams are in the standings. CSB-LSGH succumbed to another rough lesson at the hands of the LPU Jr. Pirates, 74-68 - Friday night at the Fil Oil Flying V Center in San Juan City. 

LPU banked on their top guns to pull off a 44-30 second half scoring en route to claiming the huge victory. John Barba topped the Jr. Pirates performers with 22 points, Mac Guadaña added 12 points and seven boards, while Jaerolan Omandac powered through with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Despite losing Kobe Palencia to an ankle injury in the first quarter, the Greenies got early lift from Jolo Manansala. Coach Karl Santos' troop had control of the tempo and were defending the Jr. Pirates' main gunners in Guadaña and Barba quite well in the first half.

After racing to a 27-17 lead midway through the second quarter, the white shirts got their rhythm and so did RC Calimag as he made sure to keep the Greenies in front. The son of former PBA player, Ricky Calimag spearheaded a 5-0 finishing kick to fend off LPU's attempted run to end the first half with a 38-30 advantage.

The Greenies maintained a double-figure advantage almost three minutes into the third chapter, but a drought in the next four minutes opened the door for LPU who came roaring back. With Barba and Omandac leading the charge and the bench contribution coming alive, the red shirts were able to frustrate the turnover-plagued Greenies and force a 53-all deadlock heading to the payoff period.

Both teams went at it in the final quarter as they traded buckets and figured in two more deadlocks. But when it mattered most, shots just weren't falling for the Greenies. The Jr. Pirates on the other hand, were making huge plays to keep the struggling opposition at bay.

In the final three minutes, Barba continued to hammer down with inside stabs that gave his squad a 66-62 lead, and sparked another mini run to hold off CSB-LSGH's attempted comeback as they approached the final minutes. Guadaña's counter makes from the charity stripe sealed the deal for their fifth win.

Notable disparities in the numbers, especially in the second half, totally drifted CSB-LSGH's fortunes in a game that they controlled during the first two quarters. LPU's bench rose from just three points at halftime, to 24 big ones at the end of the game. The 16 points off of the Greenies' 25 turnovers sent the red shirts to the driver seat as they entered the fourth quarter, and they never looked back.

Lennox Valenzuela led the Greenies in scoring with 16 points (5/5 FTs), Jolo Manansala added another double-double performance of 13 points and 15 rebounds. RC Calimag had a quiet night as he finished with 10 points in the loss.

Welcome sights are Dominic Panlilio and Kyle Rivera's contributions amid the injury sustained by their primary point guard. Panlilio had six points and two assists in 14 minutes of play, while Rivera delivered eight points, four rebounds and a steal in nine quality minutes of play.

With a long way to go this season, stepping up is something that CSB-LSGH will need, given that the main gunners would need the lift from their role players. 

Rivera played steady on both ends and gave quality minutes for the Greenies. Seeing limited action in the first seven games, Kyle admitted that his confidence was a bit down prior to delivering his best output in the first round.

"Before this game, kinausap ako ng mga coaches and binigyan nila ako ng motivation na magtrabaho lang, kasi lahat ng players may panahon naman. Malaking bagay na nawala si Kobe, so sinabi ni coach na kailangan mag step up and kailangan overall contribution." Kyle's thoughts on helpong fill the void in their backcourt and getting more minutes in this game.

For Panlilio, he knows that it's his job to make the most of the minutes he's given every single game.

"My mindset was just to play for my team the right way, I just wanted to step up, fill Kobe's position and be the point guard that the our team needs. Coaches and teammates are telling me to step up, play my game and stick to our system." Dominic on his extended minutes.

CSB-LSGH holds the third spot in the current team standings of the NCAA season 95 Jrs. basketball tournament with a 5-3 win-loss card.

The Greenies will have two weeks to prepare for their final first round assignment on August 30 (Friday) against the dangerous JRU Light Bombers(4-4) in a 10:00am clash at the Fil Oil Flying V Center in San Juan City.