St. Francis nails finals berth

Saint Francis of Assisi College went full throttle in the final half and clinched a finals berth with a 98-74 win over twice-to-beat Emilio Aguinaldo College-Cavite in the juniors division of the National Capital Region Universities and Colleges of Luzon Athletic Association (NCRUCLAA) Basketball Tournament on Tuesday at the Colegio de San Lorenzo gym in Quezon City.

Trailing the Brigadiers 41-40 at halftime, the Baby Doves, starring Jomar Ignacio and Carlos Ysmael, came through with several spurts to take control of the game before practically putting the game behind EAC’s reach midway in the payoff period with another telling salvo anchored on their vaunted running game.

“We executed our game plan pretty well,” said coach Christopher Villamayor. “Though we started tentatively, the boys regained their bearing and we started to hit our outside shots.”

With the win, the Baby Doves arranged a best-of-three title series with the NCBA cagers starting today. SFAC forced a playoff for the other finals berth with a 77-72 win last week.

“Hope to ride on the momentum of our semis win over EAC because NCBA is a very tough team,” added Villamayor. “We have to exert more if we are to win the title.”

Ignacio and Ysmael led three other SFAC players in double figures with 23 points and 21 points, respectively, – the bulk of their shots came during the team’s decisive run.

Jom Gay added 17 points while Ian Pavia and JM Santos combined for 23 points to underscore the team’s firepower.