MANILA, Philippines?Saint Louis University outlasted Cordillera Career Development Center, 93-86, Monday to top the Region 1 tournament of the Smart-PLDT 2008 Philippine Collegiate Championship League at the University of Northern Philippines (UNP) gym in Vigan City.

SLU, the Baguio champion, became the sixth regional winner in the PCCL, which will culminate in the ?Sweet 16? Final Challenge to be held in Manila in November.

Saint Louis clobbered Vigan titlist UNP, 77-69, to reach the finals against CCDC, which dominated Mariano Marcos State University, 80-64.

It will join NCAA fourth placer Mapua Institute of Technology, the NCAA-South runner-up; Region 2 champion Lyceum of the Philippines and two wild-card entries in the Zonal competitions.

The top two in the Zonal championships advance to the Manila finals.

Previous regional champions which all received athletic items from Sonak Sports are University of Nueva Caceres (Region 3-Naga/Quezon), BIT International College (Region 5-Bohol/Dumaguete), Ama Computer Learning Center (Region 6-Taclo-ban/Ormoc), Xavier University (Region 7-Cagayan De Oro/Misamis Oriental) and Ateneo de Zamboanga (Region 9-Zamboanga provinces).

Two more regional winners will be determined this week when the Regions 2 (Pangasinan/Pampanga) and 8 (Davao/Gen. Santos City) finals are played on Oct. 9 and 10 in Dagupan and Davao City, respectively.

For more details about the biggest collegiate basketball event for the year, visit www.collegiatechampionsleague.net. Romina S. Austria