THE TEAMS of History and Legal Management (LegMa) grabbed their first triumphs against Sociology and Journalism, respectively, in the season opener of this year’s Athena Cup basketball tournament held Feb. 14.
History got the better of Sociology, last year’s Athena Cup: Basketball first runner-up, in a tense overtime period, 42-38.
Sociology and History immediately went head to head in the first quarter with a parade of rebounds from the players, 17-16, in favor of the men in green.
Both teams recorded less than 10 points in the second and third quarters but Sociology continued to dominate the hard court, 26-22 and 32-28, respectively.
The jump shot of History’s Miles Reyes allowed a 36-36 knot in the fourth quarter that led to a thrilling three-minute overtime.
The combined efforts of History’s Raffy Canola, Jan Alberto, and Reyes earned the team a six-point advantage, giving Sociology its first defeat in the season.
On the other hand, LegMa outlasted Journalism with a huge 41-point gap in the final scores, 73-32.
Led by Brylle Isabelo and Matthew Tanodra, LegMa blew the journos out of the water right in the first half of the play, 21-12.
Journalism struggled to add more to its score during the latter half of the game, shooting only 69 percent from the field, compared to LegMa’s 85 percent.
Assists by LegMa’s Diego Montesa, Isabelo, and Tanodra, combined with the team players’ high shooting percentage brought LegMa a 17-point lead in the third quarter, 39-22.
LegMa’s Brad Gallanza’s offensive rebound and buzzer beater shot sealed the match, escorting his team to victory.
Meanwhile, Behavioral Science (BES) and Literature battled it out only until the third quarter due to time constraints.
BES piled up 23 points in the first quarter against Literature’s six points.
Literature’s turnovers allowed a 22-point lead in BES’ second quarter score, 43-21, while BES kept owning the court until the third quarter with orchestrated assists and rebounds, 61-35.
The game between the two teams will be continued on Thursday. F MARIA EDEN T. DINO
