St. John’s Institute (SJI) Team A and University of St. La Salle (USLS) led their respective brackets with 2-0 win-loss cards after the first day of hostilities of the first United Negros Basketball League (UNBL) Aspirants Basketball Cup 2023 played last Saturday at Bacolod Tay Tung High School Covered Court.
USLS dominated Luisa Medel National High School (LMNHS) and Colegio De San Agustin Bacolod (CSA-B), while equally convincing was the potent SJI-A offense on display against Bata National High School (BNHS) and La Consolacion College of Bacolod (LCC-B).
Bacolod Tay Tung High School Team BTTHS) A, STI West Negros University (STIWNU), University of Negros Occidental Recoletos (UNO-R), Trinity Christian School (TCS), Bacolod City National High School (BCNHS) and SJI Team B also barged into the win column as a result of the busy schedule of games.
UNO-R successfully fended off the fourth quarter surge of LCC-B to escape with a 63-58 victory. With UNO-R on top by 10 points in the payoff quarter, Red Danielle Delearna spearheaded a LCC-B rally, dropping 17 points in the quarter to force a deadlock with 1:03 left in the game. LCC-B however missed the golden chance to take the lead as they muffed 2 free throws, which led to a Reigner Torres dagger triple and a layup by Keanu Apellido to seal the victory for UNO-R.
The 16 schools were divided into 2 brackets, with bracket A comprising of USLS, SJI Team B, BTTHS Team B, LMNHS, BCNHS, CSA-B, St. Rose of Lima School and STI West Negros University.
Bracket B is composed of SJI Team A, BTTHS Team A, LCC-B, UNO-R, BNHS, TCS, St. Joseph School-La Salle and Domingo Lacson National High School.
The top 4 teams in each of the bracket will advance to the knockout quarterfinals. Games are played every weekend.*