2 days Ago
Charles Tiu and Olsen Racela, who are both serving as assistant coaches in the pros, will finally meet on the NCAA stage when De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and University of Perpetual Help System DALTA lock horns on Tuesday. Tiu, a deputy for Converge, and Racela, a longtime assistant of Tim Cone at Ginebra, get to test each other at 12 p.m.
at the Filoil EcoOil Centre to be followed by the 2:30 p.m. encounter of San Sebastian College-Recoletos and Jose Rizal University.
The Blazers are the favorites after having won their three previous games against three contenders in Mapua University, San Beda University, and Emilio Aguinaldo College for an early head start. Leading the way for the Taft crew is Allen Liwag, who is averaging a double-double of 14.0 points and 15.
67 rebounds in his first season donning the Blazers colors. But the 6-foot-6 big man isn't lacking in support with the likes of Tony Ynot, Jhomel Ancheta, Justin Sanchez, and Gab Cometa doing their parts. But Tiu said they should be wary of a young Perpetual side, especially with Racela now calling the shots.
"Ako, to be honest, I'm not surprised [that they are winning] because I know any team coached by coach Olsen is a good team," Tiu said. "I was actually worried when he was gonna get the job, sabi ko 'Gosh, it's gonna be a tough team', and medyo suwerte nga kami kasi maraming nagsialisan ata sa team nila. Imagine if they were complete.
" In Perpetual's first three games, the ALTAs showed they might be the darkhorse of the season with gutsy wins over JRU and Arellano. And right now, all eyes are on rookie Mark Gojo Cruz, who is now their top player with 17.33 points, 5.
0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.67 steals, and 0.
33 blocks. The prized freshman and the rest of the ALTAs, though, will need more than what had shown so far in order to beat a heavyweight team that is Benilde. In the second game, San Sebastian will look to recover from a previous loss to San Beda against the hungry Heavy Bombers, who are eyeing to punch their first win after a 0-3 start.
The Stags absorbed a humbling 85-75 setback against the defending champions even after staging a late fourth quarter surge that saw them erase a 14-point deficit. JRU, on the other hand, has been luckless in the past games, falling to Perpetual, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, and Lyceum of the Philippines University. —JKC, GMA Integrated News.
