St. Clare fives seek 2 Naascu titles vs CEU Wednesday

St. Clare guns for both men’s and juniors basketball crown against defending champion Centro Escolar Wednesday in Games 2 of the National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities at Makati Coliseum.

The Saints and Baby Saints scored rousing victories in Game 1 of their respective best-of-three title series and could wrap up the twin titles today against the shell-shocked Scorpions.

CEU, erstwhile undefeated in the eliminations in men’s and juniors divisions, is eyeing the women’s title against Rizal Technological in their own final series where the Lady Scorpions hold a 1-0 lead.

But focus is on men’s action as the Saints are expected to ride the crest of their 60-54 triumph in Monday’s Game 1.

That victory did not only shove the Saints a game closer to their second league title but also stopped the Scorpions’ 12-game winning run. St. Clare won the crown in 2012 at the expense of CEU.

Last year, the Saints also broke a winning streak by the Scorpions by taking Game 1 of the finals (75-66). The Scorpions, however, came back strong, winning Game 2 (67-59) and Game 3 (64-58) to capture the title.

St. Clare coach Jino Manansala, however, vowed to end it all today.

“We just have to work even harder and play even smarter in offense and defense,” said Manansala. “We will finish it tomorrow (today).”

Manansala, a former University of Santo Tomas guard, added: “We have been in this situation before and definitely, we have learned our lesson from last year.”

CEU missed the services of star rookie Earven Silverie who has been instrumental in the Scorpions’ fine form in the eliminations.

That left most of the scoring chores to Congolese Rodrigue Ebondo who was limited to just five points in Game 1.