Sealions bolster No. 1 bid; ICC stuns CEU


At a glance

  • Olivarez College inched closer to securing the No. 1 seed in the second phase of elims by clobbering WCC-Aeronautical and Technological College, 94-69, in the UCAL-PGFlex Linoleum 7th Season Monday, Feb. 24, at the Paco Arena in Manila.


Games Thursday
(Paco Arena, Manila)
10 a.m. – PWU vs OC
12 noon – UB vs DIL
2 p.m. – LPU-B vs MCU
4 p.m. – Pcu-D vs CEU

Olivarez College inched closer to securing the No. 1 seed in the second phase of elims by clobbering WCC-Aeronautical and Technological College, 94-69, in the UCAL-PGFlex Linoleum 7th Season Monday, Feb. 24, at the Paco Arena in Manila.

Hakim Njiasse25.jpg
Hakim Njiasse stars for Olivarez College. (UCAL)

Protecting a slim 60-55 lead entering the payoff period, the Sealions suddenly became hot, scoring almost at will to outscore the Skyhawks, 34-14, to extend their winning run to five games for a 7-1 mark.

In the other game, Immaculada Concepcion College continued to impress as it stunned reigning titlist Centro Escolar University, 101-83, thanks immensely to the red-hot shooting of Edrian Mark Ramirez and Alfred Joseph Flores.

Ramires was almost unstoppable, firing 34 points on an impressive 11-of-16 shooting from field, including 4-of-8 from the 3-point area, while Flores added 27 points spiked by four triples as ICC improved to 5-3.

The Sealions need only to beat the still winless Philippine Women’s University on Thursday to formalize their claim of the top spot.

Hakim Njiasse put on another MVP-like performance with 30 points and 30 rebounds but it was Jhon Patrick Panela who started it all.

He opened the fourth with six straight points to touch off offensive spurts that turned a close contest into a rout.

Panela went on to finish with 19 points and helped hand the Skyhawks their seventh defeat in 8 games.
The CEU Scorpions fell to 3-5.