Sea Horses trip Doves, make final

MANILA, Philippines – PATTS College of Aeronautics pulled through in the clutch and subdued St. Francis of Assisi, 78-68, in their Final Four rubber match to clinch the other championship berth in the eighth Universities and Colleges of Luzon Athletic Association (UCLAA) men’s basketball tournament at the Marikina Sports Complex recently.

John Paul Manansala came away with 18 points to power the PATTS Sea Horses past the Doves for a clash with the Colegio de San Lorenzo Griffins for the championship.

The CdSL side took the first finals slot with a 74-46 rout of the National College of Business and Arts Wildcats last week.

The Sea Horses actually took control early but had to toughen up in the stretch to turn back the Doves and earn another crack at the championship after falling short against the Philippine College of Criminology side last year.

Manansala closed out the first period with a triple as PATTS took a 21-18 lead before Jayson Orada, Jestoni Loyola and Mark Velasco took charge in the next quarter as the Griffins sat on a 42-29 cushion at the turn.