The ECJ Perpetual Trophy is leaving the Playtime Filoil Centre for the first time – and is headed to Diliman.
Showing no rust whatsoever from a two-week layoff, the University of the Philippines closed the book on National U’s Cinderella run with a 79-65 romp in the winner-take-all final of the Playtime Cares 18th Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup presented by ABC Tile Adhesive.
With the convincing victory on Sunday, the Fighting Maroons became the first team to win three titles in a row in the premiere preseason tournament which has PlayTime Cares, Filoil, EcoOil, Hanes, Bostik El Heneral, Jiang Nan Hotpot, Lamtex Pipes, Smart, and Puso Pilipinas as major sponsors, Spalding as official game ball, and Harbor Star, Wallem, Akari, BDO, Tela.com Athletics, Nature’s Spring, Reyes Barbecue, and Brothers Burger as minor sponsors.
The Fighting Maroons actually ended the elimination round as the third seed out of the UAAP Group before surviving Benilde in the quarterfinals and outdueling then-undefeated La Salle in the semifinals two weeks ago.
By virtue of the history it made, State U was awarded the ECJ Perpetual Trophy, conceptualized and constructed for any squad that completes a three-peat in the tourney.
“It’s a blessing for us na makapaglaro rito at manalo ng tatlong championship. Pero hindi pa kami masa-satisfy rito kasi may next goal pang parating,” said head coach Goldwin Monteverde, as they now turn their attention to another title defense in UAAP Season 88.
Gerry Abadiano showed the way with 13 points, three steals, and two rebounds en route to being hailed as Filoil Preseason MVP. Francis Nnoruka also added a 15-marker, 12-board double-double, as Gani Stevens had 13 points, nine rebounds, and four assists of his own.
“‘Di ko naman inasahan na a-awardan ako. Nag-stay lang naman ako lagi sa sistema namin and swerte naman, nakaka-contribute palagi,” said Abadiano.
It was Abadiano as well who fired seven points in UP’s 13-6 blast to increase a six-point lead midway through the second quarter into a 46-33 edge before halftime. Their advantage ballooned to as big as 23, as the Bulldogs just couldn’t get going from the field where they shot just 31-percent, as well as the line where they missed 16 of 36 attempts.
The Fighting Maroons actually ended the elimination round as the third seed out of the UAAP Group before surviving Benilde in the quarterfinals and outdueling then-undefeated La Salle in the semifinals two weeks ago.
NU, for its part, was the lowest seed in the UAAP bracket, but went on to upend NCAA No. 1 Letran then resurgent University of Santo Tomas in the playoffs.
Jake Figueroa topped the scoring column for the Bulldogs with 12 points, six rebounds, and two assists, as Kenshin Padrones contributed 10 markers. Jolo Manansala, their representative on the Mythical Team, was leashed to just six points in only 13 minutes on the floor.
Rounding out the top five players of the Filoil Preseason are Green Archer Kean Baclaan, Growling Tiger Gelo Crisostomo, and Knight Titing Manalili.
National U, though, got some sort of a consolation prize, as Reinhard Jumamoy won the inaugural Hanes 3-Point Shootout after outlasting La Salle’s Mason Amos and Benilde’s Ernest Daja in the final.
The Bulldogs’ second-year gunner scored 14 points to take the PHP 10,000 cash prize, besting Amos’ 13 and Daja’s 10. Also participating in the side event were Adamson’s Matty Erolon, University of the East’s Keian Spandonis, Emilio Aguinaldo College’s Nico Quinal, and UP’s Nicco Tan.
The Scores:
UP 79 – Nnoruka 15, Abadiano 13, Stevens 13, Remogat 8, Torres 7, Alarcon 7, Fortea 6, Alter 4, Yniguez 3, Belmonte 2, Bayla 1, Briones 0, Felicilda 0.
NU 65 – Figueroa 12, Padrones 10, Santiago 9, Palacielo 6, Manansala 6, Francisco 6, Enriquez 4, John 4, Jumamoy 3, Garcia 3, Dela Cruz 2, Solomon 0, Parks 0, Navarro 0.
Quarters: 27-21, 48-37, 70-49, 79-65
