COLEGIO De San Lorenzo evened its best-of-three finals series in the NCRUCLAA men’s basketball tournament with an 89-78 victory over De Ocampo Memorial Colleges in Game Two on Wednesday at the Makati Coliseum.
Jon Jon Gabriel had 28 points, while Jan Dominic Formento finished with 24 points for the Griffins, who forced a rubber match for the first-ever NCRUCLAA title on Friday morning at the Makati Coliseum.
The Griffins were outscored early, 7-0, but scored eight straight points leading to a 25-16 edge in the first quarter.
San Lorenzo’s lead reached 18 at halftime, 49-31, and had a gap as high as 21 points.
“We wanted to win,” said CDSL coach Bonnie Garcia. “That is why we played na wala na talagang bukas. They played their best and our game plan was executed kahit may mga lapses rin kami.”
“We will create a lot of double teams from him (Gabriel) kaya si Formento made open shots from three,” Garcia added.
Dahrrel Caranguian had 21 points for the Cobras, who won Game One, 92-87.