NCAA East dominates 1st All-Star showdown

Boyet Fernandez . INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

Coach Boyet Fernandez has marveled at the talent at his disposal in the maiden NCAA All-Star Game. But it still took him by surprise how easy it was to make them play cohesively and efficiently yesterday.

Fernandez’s NCAA-East All Stars leaned on a balanced offensive to repulse the NCAA-West squad coached by Letran’s Caloy Garcia, 104-97, last night in the league’s mid-season showcase at a packed Filoil Flying V Arena.

John Pinto of Arellano U finished with 10 points, including eight in the final period, to earn the Most Valuable Player award of the All-Star game.

Art dela Cruz, who was named Finals MVP last season when he led the Red Lions to a fourth straight crown, topscored with 12, while Juneric Baloria of Perpetual had 11.

“I liked the effort shown by the team,” said Fernandez. “Its an honor to coach a team like this with so many talented players who I know will go far in their careers.”

All 14 players fielded by Fernandez scored at least two points for the East All-Stars, who started pulling away early in the fourth period.

Bannered by four teams in the top five of the league standings, the East were tipped to dominate the West.

But the West showed plenty of fight surprisingly behind Mapua forward Jeson Cantos, who fired 18 points, including 10 in the third quarter.

Earlier, Travis Jonson of St. Benilde and San Beda’s Cameroonian guard Arnaud Noah shared the limelight by ruling the three-point shootout and slam dunk competition, respectively.

The scores:

NCAA-EAST 104—A. Dela Cruz 12, Baloria 11, Pinto 10, Caperal 9, Teodoro 9, Guinto 8, Perez 8, Thompson 8, J. Dela Cruz 7 Arboleda 6, Paniamogan 6, Ciriacruz 4, Mabulac 4, Pascual 2.

NCAA-WEST 97—Cantos 18, Tayongtong 14, Romero 12, Gabayni 10, Cruz 8, Saitanan 8, Arquero 7, Taha 7, Bartolo 6, Jamon 5, Zamora 2, Estrella 0, Nambatac 0, Racal 0.

Quarters: 22-22, 45-45, 76-71, 104-97