Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it.

This morning, I was anxious to get myself out of bed for no clear reason. Weather's somewhat unbearable at 33C so, I was unsuccessful. Took longer time in bed until I remembered there's one very important thing I needed to do. Twas Hippo who reminded me tis NCAA 85 Season Opening today. That was already lunchtime so there's no chance for me to rush to Araneta Coliseum where NCAA holds its opening every year. Another opening of season I missed attending, so I was stuck in front of the television the entire afternoon.

Still I was excited only to realize that 2 of my favorite lions are not anymore playing: Escobal and Menor along with Sam Ekwe. Awww.

Anyway, I didn't know I didn't blog about last year's games. How was that possible? Twas their 3rd win and I never wrote about that season at all? *perplexed*

...ok, so, the program went pretty good with all the presentations and interviews hosted by the San Beda College. Petty observation: dancers and cheerers are becoming shorter and shorter each year. What is happening?

Yet, the excitement truly kicked off when the games started. First game was the San Beda Red Lions vs. the Mapua Cardinals. I must say the game was amateur for a 3rd time champ team. Too many lame errors by the lions and they really need to work on their free throws for the next game against the Bombers (or else).

The San Beda Red Lions won the first game.

HIGHLIGHTS

First quarter: Mapua was quiet for the first 4 minutes. Borgie Hermida showed high performance as soon as his check in, although, he hasn't regained his basketball legs from ACL injury, yet. MIT's consistent turnovers gave the SBC a 12-point advantage and ended with 15-point lead in this quarter, 27-11.

Second quarter: Long drought for the Cardinals leading to 20-point advantage in favor of the Lions, but picked up a little with the help of Ramises with a 3-pointer & inside shots. Three minutes on the clock, MIT still struggling to put the lead down, but Lim answered with a 3-pointer maintaining their 20-point advantage. The Cardinals picked up again after a quick time out and successfully put the lead down to 15 at 2 minutes and 13 at 40 seconds on the clock. Yet, Tirona made a wrap-around-pass to Lanete who then let out a 2 point score ending the quarter with 15-point lead, 39-24.

Third quarter: Gamalinda scored 2 & 3 at the start of the first half and SBC center Sudan Daniel (rookie) gave a superslam taking the lead to 24. Soriano of MIT let a 3-pointer taking the lead down with Acosta converting inside shots, but the Lions are unstoppable and still raise the lead up to the game's highest, 26. Quarter score 63-37.

Fourth quarter: Cinco gave 3 consecutive shots at the start of the final quarter as the lions' defense weakened. The entire quarter went boring as if teams and audience were only waiting which team scores next. Espinosa contributed 2 consecutive shots for the Cardinals while Pascual answered for the Lions with 2 consecutive scores at the final seconds of the game. Soliman, out of desperation, made a rookie error giving a foul just before the bell.

Final score: 85-52
Star player: Sudan Daniel - 13 points, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks and 2 assists


Second game: the Letran Knights vs. JRU Heavy Bombers.

Wilson kicked off the score. First quarter was full of personal fouls as the game was undeniably physical, which is really expected of the 2 teams. Game was tight but the lead was in favor of the Bombers. Jazul scored after a moment of silence from the Knights. Gutilban let a 3-pointer. Jazul inned an inside shot at the last seconds ending the first quarter with 20-17 in favor of JRU.

Defense went tighter for the two teams. Several turnovers were forced through the Knights' strong defense causing the bombers to make more errors. Wilson gave a 3-point shot at 4:40. Last shot by Aloysius Taplah (rookie) of Letran, his first basket for the season, but not enough to take them to the lead. Score in favor of JRU 36-30.

My brother suddenly appeared and we talked incessantly the rest of the afternoon til early evening. I missed the 3rd quarter scores. :(

JRU won the game, 69-66. Wilson being the player of the game.

But, the game was good. Much better than the first one. A game of skilled and professional players. The Bombers are still intact with most of its main men playing losing only Nocom. Cena, Wilson, Hayes, Cagoco and NJei still are displaying their strong and expert skills. It's only a matter of how the coach will use them to be this season's champs.

During the entire game, it's quite noticeable how the little errors of the Bombers impacted their play and ended with only 3 point lead when within the remaining 4 minutes of the 4th quarter their lead reached 12.

The Letran Knights truly gave a good fight in this game and with lesser errors the next games, I believe they have a strong fight to the finals. The team's key losses are Daa and Melegrito. The main men -- Guevarra and Jazul -- need a lot of hard work and confidence to help the team make it to the finals.

So far, the JRU Bombers have the strongest advantage and there's no doubt they can really advance to the finals. This scares me as, of course, SBC is my baby. Real hard work is needed for them to maintain their 3-season title.

Next game's on Monday, 29 June 2009 at the Arena (San Juan).

1st game - 2PM
College of Saint Benilde Blazers
vs.
Angeles University Foundation Great Danes

2nd game - 4PM
Arellano University Chiefs
vs.
Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals


Back to being a sports fan. heh