St. Jude, Hope gain in Tiong Lian caging

MANILA, Philippines - Joel Chang buried a tournament-high seven triples to power St. Jude Catholic School to an 83-56 rout over Grace Christian College at the close of the elimination round of the Freego-Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association (MMTLBA) tournament Saturday at the Chiang Kai Shek College.

Chang finished with an impressive 11-of-19 shooting and wound up with 29 points and four rebounds as the Judenites bounced back from a crushing defeat to defending champion Xavier in the tournament presented by Fresh Gear Revolution Denim.

The Judenites, who with the Golden Stallions have clinched the outright semis berths, finished the single-round elims with a 5-1 record. The Golden Stallions, gunning for their second three-peat in 10 years, topped the elims for the second straight year with a 6-0 mark.

In the other game of the tournament backed by Fern-C, 100 Plus Isotonic Sports Drink, Outlast Battery, Rusty Lopez, Puma, Converse, Burlington, Davis Paint, MEC Computer, Molten, Bantex Sandals and Bow & Wow - the Natural Pets Food Store, Hope Christian High School emerged No. 3 after downing St. Stephen’s High School, 76-66.

Hope Christian’s win over St. Stephen’s came on the heels of its thrilling 65-58 victory over multi-titled Chiang Kai Shek College last Friday.

Meantime, Uno High School finally barged into the win-column with a 65-63 win over Grace Christian College.