Xavier Repeats as NCR Champs Trounces San Beda, 73-65

Xavier School, with its relentless and unforgiving variety of defenses, defeated last season's runners-up, San Beda, en route to their second NCR Passerelle championship in the last two years with a 73-65 victory. 

San Beda drew first blood as they drained a three pointer followed by RP Youth U-16 mainstay Andre Caracut's twinner. Afterwards, Xavier made up for lost time by going on a 9-4 run with baskets from Jonathan Yu, Tyler Tio, and Jarrell Lim with his 3-point play tying the game at 9-all with 5:17 left in the quarter. Xavier had numerous offensive rebounds because of their height advantage which allowed them to get extra cracks at the basket. Xavier had its first lead of the game at 10-9 with 4:46 remaining with a split from the free throw line from Jarrell Lim but Lim's scoring outburst does not stop there. He goes on a personal 9-2 run including the fore mentioned free throw and gives them an 18-11 advantage. Xavier's defense was at its finest despite all their 4 team fouls from that quarter coming from Jonathan Yu. The quarter ended on a 4-0 run by Xavier with baskets from Tio and Lim who scored 16 points in that quarter giving them a 22-11 edge at the quarter break. 

The pace of the game changed dramatically as the run-and-gun feel of the game turned into a halfcourt slugfest for both teams. Xavier started the quarter with back-to-back turnovers. Xavier had difficulty in executing their offense and nobody wanted to shoot the ball. John Guntang was a beast for San Beda scoring 8 points in the quarter to further help their cause. Guntang single-handedly matched the scoring output from Xavier in that quarter. Both teams did not take advantage of their opponents since Xavier was at penalty with 6:47 left and the Red Cubs with 3:50 remaining in the quarter with numerous splits and missed free throws. Changgi Hong struggled immensely from the field missing on numerous short stabs but Jefferson Tan made 2 crucial baskets to end the quarter with the Stallions still up by 4, 30-26. 

The third quarter unit of Coach Owen Oliva, who have been his best performing quarter for their two past two games, started with a man-to-man defense but quickly switched back to their zone defense to match-up with San Beda's quickness. Martin Sy nailed the first basket of the quarter, the first two of his six points in the quarter, with an inside stab to give the Stallions a 6-point lead. San Beda slowly but surely clawed their way in back to the game with the free throw line due to numerous ticky-tacky fouls on Xavier. Xavier's 6'6 center and RP Youth U-16 mainstay Isaac Go was held to a single point because of their tenacious defense. This did not affect him in the defense end as he swatted away 2 shots and altering many in the process. San Beda had their first taste of the lead ever since the early parts of the game with 1:15 left in the quarter with the score favoring them, 41-40. The quarter ended with exchanges from both sides and after the dust settled, the score favored the Red Cubs, 45-43. 

As the fourth quarter started, with their championship hopes hanging in the balance, the young Tyler Tio nailed a pivotal 3-pointer to start the quarter giving the Stallions a 46-45 lead. This would be the turning point of the game and momentum switched back to the side of the Stallions. Jarrell Lim again went on a scoring outburst scoring 20 points in this pivotal quarter, finishing with a season-high of 36 points, with able support from Anton Lapez who scored 5 big points in the quarter. Lim, who was named Passerelle Most Valuable Player, made shots from both inside and out as he toyed with the San Beda defense and leading the Stallions to their second Passerelle title in 2 years with a 73-65 victory. 

Xavier would be playing in the National Finals as it represents the NCR and goes up against the other champion schools from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. 

Xavier Escapes Pesky LSGH in Passerelle Semis

The clock ticking down, with the ball in his hands, Alaska Jr-NBA Youth Ambassador looks at clock as it winds down. He goes to his dominant side brushes away a defender and goes up for a floater and banks it in giving Xavier a 2-point lead with 13 seconds left in the game and leads Xavier to a 59-57 victory against the tough La Salle Greenhills squad.

The game started of slowly for the Stallions as it couldn’t buy a basket from the field and the charity stripe. Both teams threw the ball away countless of times, which made the coaches of both sides furious. Changgi Hong tried to carry the load of the Stallions scoring 7 of his 9 points in the 1^st canto. La Salle capitalized on the Stallions gambling man-to-man pressure, which led to numerous easy under goal stabs. At the end of the 1^st quarter buzzer, the score was 11-18 in favor the men in green.

The 2^nd quarter troops of Head Coach Owen Oliva again started poorly from the field but it managed to dictate the tempo of the game forcing numerous turnovers from the Green Archers. As the quarter passed, La Salle managed to find a way to break Xavier’s daunting man-to-man defense and a variety of their zone presses to go up 23-16 until Alaska – Jr. NBA Ambassador Jarrell Lim single-handedly took over the game scoring relentlessly to keep the Stallions at bay. At the end of the quarter it was just down to a 2 point lead for the Green Archers, 29-27.

During the 3^rd quarter, Xavier capitalized on its height advantage and scored on numerous second chance attempts to even the score at 36 all on Anton Lapez’s 3-point play conversion. As all things looked bright for the Stallions, RP Youth U-16 mainstay Isaac Go was called for 3 fouls in the first 5 minutes alone giving La Salle numerous chances to take the ball out and set their offense. As the Stallions still continued to clank baskets, their aggressiveness merited them numerous free throws but they didn’t take advantage of it.

During payoff period, the Stallions went on a relentless attack anchored by their defense. As they took their first lead of the game at 46-45, both sides exchanged baskets until Jarrell Lim hit the game-winner with 13 ticks remaining. La Salle tried to win the game but their 3-point attempt clanked off the back iron and the Stallions will advance to next week’s Finals for the third time in the last four years.

Lim ended up with a game-high 19 points on 6/9 shooting from the field (1/1 3PTs) and 6/9 from the charity stripe. Following him was Changgi Hong with 9, Isaac Go with 8 points plus a game-high 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. Anton Lapez and Tonito Puyat had 6 points apiece.

The Stallions will get a chance to defend their Passerelle crown next week against the winner of the Claret and San Beda game in the Poveda Gym.

The Scores:

Xavier 59: Lim 19, Hong 9, Go 8, Lapez 6, Puyat 6, Sy 3, Yu 3, Tio 2,  Ejercito 2, Ong 1, Gemzontan 0, A. Tan 0, J. Tan 0, Chuacuco 0, Yeung 0.

Quarter Scores: 11-17, 27-29, 43-45, 59-57.