The NCAA Season 100 men's basketball tournament is shaping up to be more exciting and challenging as the second round opens on Friday.
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde currently sits atop the standings with seven wins and two losses, followed by San Beda University, Mapua University, and Colegio de San Juan de Letran with identical 6-3 win-loss cards.
University of Perpetual Help System DALTA, Lyceum of the Philippines University, and Emilio Aguinaldo College all have four wins and five losses, while Jose Rizal University and Arellano University have three wins and six losses each. San Sebastian College-Recoletos, on the other hand, have seven straight losses after opening the season with two wins.
The standings may look like this, but many of these games were intensely fought and could have gone either way.
Here are some of the highlights of the first round of NCAA Season 100:
Five more minutes or more
Six games went beyond the regular 40 minutes of action.
Arellano University and Emilio Aguinaldo College had the first taste of overtime in just the second day of the season as the Generals notched the win in their campaign opener, 87-80.
In the six OT games, Arellano, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, and San Beda University played twice. However, the longest one belongs to Colegio de San Juan de Letran and University of Perpetual Help System DALTA as they reached the third extra period with the Knights taking the win, 82-73.
Here are the highlights of the six OT games in the first round:
Letran 82 - 73 Perpetual (3OT)
Benilde 96 - 94 San Sebastian (OT)
Game winners
While some games needed five more minutes or more to determine the winner, other games were decided by a single shot.
Here are some of this round's game-winners:
Josh Moralejo (LPU vs. Perpetual)
Bryan Sajonia (San Beda vs. Letran)
Kevin Santos (Letran vs. Benilde)
New names, new records
New names were known while new records were posted in NCAA Season 100.
Paeng Are was among those who erupted early in the season, posting a career-high 30 points against Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
John Barba also had a four-game streak of scoring 25 points or more. He had 25 points against San Sebastian, followed by a career-high performance of 28 points against JRU, and then back-to-back 25-point outings against Arellano and Mapua University. The LPU star currently leads the league in scoring with 19.78 points per game.
Newcomers were also on the radar early in the season.
Freshmen Mark Gojo Cruz (Perpetual) and Chris Hubilla (Mapua) already made an impact for their respective squads.
Gojo Cruz is among the ALTAs' top leaders with 13.78 points, 5.22 rebounds, 2.22 assists, and 1.22 steals per game, while Hubilla has averages of 11.56 points and 6.11 rebounds per game.
Transferees Jimboy Estrada (Letran) and Bryan Sajonia (San Beda) have been crucial in their teams' rotations as well. Estrada leads the Knights with 16.0 points, 7.89 rebounds, 5.0 assists, and 1.0 block per game, while Sajonia has 12.56 points, 4.44 rebounds, and 2.11 assists per game for the Red Lions.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
