Sea Lions ease out

MANILA, Philippines — Blue Dragons Olivarez College ousted defending champion Diliman College with a dominant 72-57 victory in their do-or-die semis match in the 5th PG Flex Linoleum-Universities and Colleges Basketball League (UCBL) yesterday at the Paco Arena in Manila.

The Sea Lions ignited a telling 19-0 run in the third quarter that turned a close 38-32 lead into a huge 25-point spread, 57-32, seizing full control and moving on to the best-of-three finals against the unbeaten Centro Escolar University squad.

Game 1 is on Monday also at the Paco Arena.

It was a total team effort for Olivarez with Mark Gallano leading the way with a double-double of 17 points and 17 rebounds while Lance de Leon logged 13 points, six rebounds and six assists.

John Uduba chipped in 11 points while Edmund dela Cruz was a workhorse on the board with 13 rebounds on top of his six points.

Robbi Darang paced the Blue Dragons with 16 points and eight assists while John Pedrosa added 14.

Olivarez actually had to go through a more difficult path to the finale after ending up as the fourth seed in the stepladder semifinals.

It defeated Philippine Christian University-Dasmarinas first before overcoming Diliman’s twice-to-beat advantage to get another shot of finally winning the elusive UCBL title.