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IBAJAY, Aklan: It was the greatest show in
basketball—at least here in Ibajay.
With their semis berths already
secured, AMA Computer University and University of Baguio put on a
show pitting their “Fil-foreign” players against each other—a
slam-dunking spectacle that had the jampacked crowd at the Ibajay
Multi-Purpose Hall up on its feet, as the 61st National
Inter-Collegiate Basketball Championship braces for the tense
semifinal round Friday.
Titans’ sixth man Noel Dayrit,
a Fil-American, and Fil-Nigerian Cristian Kim Ighalo of the UB
Cardinals played one-on-one starting late in the second half, with
nobody emerging a clear winner. It turned into a slam-dunk contest
between them, with the high-flying “imports” scoring slam after
slam to the delight of a wildly-cheering crowd that included the
municipality’s high-ranking officials led by Ibajay Mayor Roberto
Garcia and Vice-Mayor Nelson Santamaria.
Dayrit won his match-up against
Ighalo, 26-12, and the Titans went on to score a 100-78 victory in a
no-bearing match that was actually the lull before the storm as the
tournament organized by the Basketball
Association of the Philippines in
cooperation with the municipal government of Ibajay headed by Mayor
Garcia and supported by Baker’s Fair, Healthy Options and Burlington
kicked off its crossover semis “war” with no.1 team Angeles
University Foundation clashing with no. 4 St. Vincent de Paul of
Caraga at 5:30 p.m. while UB and AMACU face each other again at
7:30 p.m. with the finals slot at stake.
The two winners after the semis
will clash today for the championship and a chance to represent its
school to the Asian University Basketball Championship set next
month in Daet, Camarines Norte.
“No-bearing naman kaya
pinabayaan ko muna si Noel to put on a show for the Ibajayanons,”
said AMACU coach Boni Garcia, referring to Dayrit, a crowd favorite
here. “Pero bukas [today], giyera na ito.”
St. Vincent de Paul clinched the
last semis seat after turning back Northwestern Visayan College,
97-88, to improve to 3-4 behind AUF, AMACU (6-1), and UB (5-2).
St. Vincent’s win shut the door
on Enverga University, which finished with a 2-4 record.
The Maroons actually won their
last match against ICAS, 91-84.
The Great Danes, meanwhile,
played half-heartedly in their last elimination assignment against
host team Aklan Polytechnic College and absorbed a 79-72 defeat.
Despite the loss, AUF still
emerged as the no. 1 team by virtue of the winner-the-other rule.
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