St. Jude enters PCYAA final

Games today (Uno HS gym) 1 p.m. – MGC-NLCA vs JCA

2:30 p.m. – PCC vs St. Jude

Saint Jude Catholic School went to Jared Filipino at crunch time to eke out a 70-66 win over Makati Gospel Church-New Life Christian Academy and secure a third straight finals appearance in the Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA) Basketball Championships recently at the Uno High School gym in Tondo, Manila.

The sweet-shooting Filipino almost singlehandedly scuttled MGC-NLCA’s uprising by scoring seven straight points, including a booming trey, that gave them a 69-59 buffer with only 1:39 left.

The Judenites will face the No. 1 and unbeaten Philippine Cultural College (PCC) Seagulls in the best-of-three finals starting today also at the Uno gym.

Earlier, the PCC Seagulls overpowered Pace Academy, 78-70, to clinch the first finals berth.

Clashing in a similar best-of-three title series in the Aspirants division are reigning champion MGC-NLCA and Jubilee Christian Academy.

In his best game so far, Filipino topscored for the Judenites with 17 points while Kendrick Ong collected 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.

Daniel Manalang paced the Seagulls with 31 points –14 of them in the third quarter where they pulled away for good. He also had 17 rebounds and two blocks. Kimson Chen also finished in doubledouble for the Seagulls with 17 points and 15 boards.