THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR)-Cebu turned back USC South-White, 82-72, while USC South-Violet nipped tournament favorite USC South-Red, 93-91, last Saturday to advance to the final round of the 2011 USC-PTCA Christmas basketball tournament at the USC Girls High covered court.
BIR had a sluggish start resulting in a, 21-24 first quarter deficit, but rallied back in the 2nd canto to grab the lead at halftime, 39-34 for good.
In the 3rd period, BIR outscored USC South-White, 21-13 for a commanding 13 point advantage. But White responded with a blistering 32-22 rally in the fourth behind USJ-R Jaguar Frankie Lastimoso and ex-commercial standout Abe Galinato. Their rally however, failed to overhaul’s BIR’s lead.
Cris Litorja and Kim Valenzuela fired 18 and 17 points, respectively for BIR while Frankie Lastimoso and Abe Galinato paced USC South-White with 28 and 25 points.
Earlier, South-Violet leaned on Ronald Libre’s defensive rebound in the final eight seconds and a quick assist to Ralph Ybañez who drained a short perimeter jumper to beat USC-Red, 93-91.
Ralph Ybañez topped Violet with 27 points while Cesar Esteban Ortega paced Red with 21 markers.
BOX SCORES
VIOLET (93)- Ybañez 27, Baclay 19, Mier 11, Libre 10, Faunillan 6, Paca 5, Alesna 4, Waskin 4, Lagumbay 3, Kintanar 2, Rivera 2.
RED (91)- Ortega 21, B. Mercado 19, Oyao 12, Quijada 8, Ibon 6, L. Nuñez 6, A. Mercado 5, Dela Torre 5, N. Nuñez 4, Cagalitan 3, Resma 2.
2nd game
BIR (82)- Litorja 18, Valenzuela 17, Tocao 14, Espinosa 10, Credo 8, Alburo 4, Ortiz 3, Del Rosario 2, Dizon 2, Llavore 2, Galvez 2.
WHITE (79)- Lastimoso 28, Galinato 25, A. Satorre 11, Mayordo 7, Gayoso 4, Melgo 2, Arquillos 2. /Correspondent Dale Rosal