It was an early head start for Stallions in the opening basketball game of the 19th season of Southern Luzon College and Universities Athletic Association (SLCUAA).
As the SLCUAA tourney opened, De La Salle Lipa (DLSL) Stallions beat Malayan College Laguna (MCL) Mages with just a five-point lead, 55-50, held at MCL covered Court, Cabuyao Laguna, Nov. 10.
The Lipa-based shooters dominated the first quarter when power forward Ian Abila and Jerome Gutierrez led the game with a tight defense to win points for the team, 14-8.
Dominating the third quarter of the game, 40-35, Stallions executed a tight defense and lightning fastbreaks forcing Mages to double their performance to advance in the play.
The MCL squad improved their defense and created an opportunity to forward their shooting attacks, countering the opponent’s offense to tie the game at 45-45 during the last four minutes of the last quarter.
DLSL neared further towards winning as their shooting guard and team captain Cholo Macario fired a 3-point shot which was then followed by a 2-point shot fired by Abila, 50-45.
During the last two minutes of the quarter, the accurate free throws of the Stallions paved the way for them to leave the drained Mages behind, 55-50.
Despite of the team’s performance, Assistant Coach Nelson Gonzales said, “Actually I [still] consider that as a bad game although nanalo kami kasi ang dami naming lapses in terms of offense and defense na wala sa gameplay namin.”
SLCUAA is a basketball league for colleges in the Calabarzon region with ten participating schools for this season.
