Sea Lions, Engineers dispute UCBL finals berth

MANILA, Philippines - Olivarez College has the momentum and crowd support as it goes for a repeat and reversal over No. 2 Technological Institute of the Philippines in their sudden death duel for the second finals berth in the Universities and Colleges Basketball League (UCBL) today at the Olivarez Sports Center in Sucat, Parañaque.

The Sea Lions used a torrid second quarter run to wrest control and went on to dominate the Engineers on their way to a 70-53 rout, erasing the latter’s twice-to-beat edge and forcing a rubber match for the right to face the fancied Centro Escolar U Scorpions in the best-of-three finals.

CEU and TIP earned twice-to-beat incentives after topping the double round elims but while the Scorpions scored a lopsided 99-57 romp over the No. 4 Colegio de San Lorenzo Griffins, the Engineers struggled and lost to the surging Sea Lions.

The sudden death is set at 12 noon with the Sea Lions also expected to draw inspiration from the proverbial hometown crowd.

Olivarez actually came into the semis oozing with confidence after dealing CEU its first setback at the end of the elims. In contrast, TIP lost its final elims assignment to ousted Diliman College.

Albert Rabe, Lawrence Udoba and Pruvil Bermudez are again expected to lead the Sea Lions’ charge. Rabe led the way for the Sea Lions with 16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals while Udoba and Bermudez chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively, against the Engineers last Thursday.