From The Wires
Foreign squads flexed might against their local counterparts as Lakas California of USA and National Formosa University of Taiwan seized huge wins over Benilde and Phenom Blue Fire in the 2024 ANTA Asiabasket International Championship on Thursday at the Enderun Colleges, BGC.
Lakas California imposed its strength against the Blazers, overcoming a 23-point deficit as Fred Elombi put the icing on the cake with his game-winning layup as they eked out a 90-88 win to improve to 1-1 after an 18-point loss to NFU on Wednesday.
The Blazers, on other hand, slipped to their second consecutive loss to go 1-2 in Group A.
A pair of free throws from Angelo Vanguardia sent Benilde to a huge 76-53 lead early in the fourth, but the US-based squad unleashed a rampage the rest of the way that saw them outscore Benilde 39 to 19 to complete a come-from-behind victory.
Miguel Llanes buried a triple to give Lakas California an 84-83 lead before he cleaned up a miss and scored on a putback to send them to a slim 86-85 cushion with 38 seconds left.
But a bucket from downtown by John Morales had both squads in another deadlock at 88-all. After a scramble, Lakas California secured the possession with Stephen Pangilinan issuing the inbound pass to Fred Elombi, who would sink the game-winning layup.
The 19-year-old Llanes paced the US-based team with 21 points together with four rebounds, five steals, and one assist while Elombi finished with 17 markers, nine boards, four dimes, three swats, and one block.
NFU, meanwhile, got its first streak of the tournament after Chun-Sheng Wang caught fire to fuel their 83-71 win against the Phenom Blue Fire.
Wang detonated for 29 points on top of four assists and three steals as the Taiwanese squad cruised to their second straight victory after an opening day loss to Benilde and improved to 2-1.
Wang had no shortage of help as Michael Johnson and Jonathan Nchekwube asserted their dominance anew with the former pouring in 19 points and 10 rebounds while the latter chimed in with 11 markers and 13 boards.
In the first game, Adamson University remained unblemished following a decisive 68-35 victory against DKI Jakarta of Indonesia with the quartet io Allen Ignacio, Jhon Calisay, Renzo Competente, and Keni Cañete leading the charge for the Falcons.
Calisay shone with 10 points and eight rebounds while Calisay and Competente each registered 11 markers. Cañete also helped the cause with his 10-point outing as Adamson picked where it left off from an 81-67 thrashing of Mapua last Tuesday.
Far Eastern University extended its surge after sending Mapua University to its second loss, securing a wire-to-wire 86-69 win to remain unbeaten at 2-0.
Veteran guard Royce Alforque presided with 19 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and one steal while rookie Veejay Pre continued to impress with 15 markers, eight boards, one dime, and one steal.
THE SCORES:
FIRST GAME:
Adamson (68) – Calisay 11, Competente 11, Cañete 10, Ignacio 10, Torres 9, Fransman 7, Anabo 5, Erolon 3, Gaye 2, Yerro 0.
DKI Jakarta (35) – Pangetsu 9, Bait 9 , Tarigan 5, Irawan 5, Ilzar 2, Dawe 2, Mulia 2, Hafizh 1, Abuthan 0, Azzuri 0, Benyamin 0, Syamil 0, Pang 0.
SECOND GAME:
NFU (83) – Wang 29, Johnson 19, Nchekwube 11, Lai 7, Lee 5, Tseng 4, Liu 4, Lin 2, Ko 2, Shen 0, Yeh 0, Wei 0.
Phenom Blue Fire (71) – Osang 16, Jucom 16, Daja 15, Gaspay 8, Mara 4, Moumbagna 4, Navarro 4, Despi 2, Dimaunahan 2, Nablo 0, Enrile 0, Manzano 0.
THIRD GAME:
Lakas California (90) – Llanes 21, Elombi 17, Gonzalez 10, Pangilinan 9, Cervantes 8, Zaporteza 7, Malinis 7, Dimalanta 5, Reyes 4, Griffin 2, Prades 0, Borja 0, Stewart 0, Cbigas 0.
Benilde (88) – Morales 13, Ancheta 10, Jalalon 9, Arciaga 9, Eusebio 8, Vanguardia 8, Sangco 7, Turco 6, Oli 5, Cajucom 4, Nacua 3, Galas 3, Ondoa 2, Victoria 1, Carillo 0, Serrano 0.
FOURTH GAME:
FEU (86) – Alforque 19, Pre 15, Felipe 13, Pasaol 11, Daa 11, Konateh 6, Bautista 5, Ona 4, Beato 2, Alfonsus 0, Taboctaboc 0, Jones 0, Montemayor 0, Book 0.
Mapua (69) – Gonzales 22, Eligado 17, Nitura 10, Valentin 5, Reyno 4, Pantaleon 4, Ryan 3, Pabilona 2, Mensah 2, Asuncion 0, Mejia 0, Macaranas 0
