DLSZ tops Agila in BBI hoops

MANILA, Philippines – De La Salle Zobel bucked an early deficit then shut down Agila’s Lebron Nieto to carve out a 68-62 win in the 12-Under division of the Smart Breakdown Basketball Invitationals’ Cherifer Tangkad Sagad tournament at the Moro Lorenzo Sports Center.

It seemed that Agila would weather the scorching rally by DLSZ in a nip and tuck affair for most of the match. After Derek Domangcas hit a jumper off a Jordan Salandanan assist to make it 62-61 with 54 seconds left, DLSZ retaliated with a triple by Justin San Agustine, 64-62, off a Dwyane James Miranda assist with 43 seconds left. Miranda is the son of pro player and former FEU Tamaraw Dennis Miranda.

Nieto missed Agila’s next 3-point attempt as San Agustine and Miranda scored DLSZ’s last two baskets for the final points of the match. DLSZ climbed to 8-1 while Agila dropped to 6-3.

San Agustine led DLSZ in scoring with 18 points while Miranda added 12. On Agila’s part, Domangcas scored a game high of 21 points while Nieto and Salandanan added 14 and 11 each.

DLSZ made it a twin win for the day with a 71-47 win over Ateneo in the 10-Under category with Kiefer Alas leading the way with 20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 steals, and 4 assists. Alas is the youngest son of current Phoenix PBA team head coach Louie Alas and the brother of NLEX point guard Kevin.

In the 15-Under bracket, AMA Computer College survived bested Kings Montessori School, 80-76, in a match that went down to the wire as both sides traded baskets and the lead until the final minute of play.

In the women’s competition, Polytechnic University of the Philippines topped College of St. Benilde, 69-58.