CENTRO Escolar University proved steadier down the stretch in an 84-81 come-from-behind win over defending champion Olivarez College to complete an 8-0 sweep of the first phase of the eliminations of the PGFlex-UCAL Season 8 Basketball Tournament on Thursday at the Paco Arena.
The Scorpions trailed the Sea Lions for the most part until the 6-foot-9 Precious Momowei imposed his will inside, scoring all but one in a blazing 8-1 windup to keep CEU’s pristine record intact going into the next stage of the elims.
Momowei, Canete show way
Momowei posted his seventh double-double with 22 points and 12 boards plus two assists in a performance that underscored his desire to win a championship after a forgettable winless stint with University of the East in the UAAP last season.
Geric Cañete also made his presence felt in the duel of unbeaten teams by delivering 17 points spiked by three triples apart from posting 5 rebounds and two steals. Christ Singson also shone offensively with 10 points.
With an 8-0 record, the CEU needs only to win two of its three games in the next phase of elims to advance outright to the semis.
The top four finishers after the first phase will be bracketed in Group A where they play another round with the Top 2 earning outright semis berths. The fifth to 9th placers also play another round with the Top 2 joining the losers in Group A in the quarters which is a knockout affair.
In other games, Immaculada Concepcion College stunned two-time champion Diliman College, 77-75, despite the 37-point effort of Solomon Kone, and Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas improved to 4-3 after downing University of Batangas, 87-79.
Manila Central University picked up just its second win seven games drubbing of Philippine Women’s University, 86-60.
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