La Salle, NU continue their undefeated match in UAAP women's basketball

Standings:

La Salle 4-0
NU 3-0
Ateneo 2-2
Adamson 2-2
FEU 2-2
UE 1-2
UST 1-3
UP 0-4

July 30 at the Mall of Asia Arena: 10am - NU vs UE

August 3 at the Blue Eagle Gym:

9am - Adamson vs UE
11am - UP vs UST
1pm - Ateneo vs La Salle
3pm - FEU vs NU 

UAAP Season 76 finalists remained unbeaten after dispatching their respective opponents in the latest UAAP Season 77 women's basketball matches at the Blue Eagle Gym on Sunday.

The defending UAAP champions took care of things against the University of the East for their fourth straight win, 64-56, while the losing finalists won their third straight by taking out Ateneo, 59-50.

After a slow start where they trailed by five points with over six minutes remaining in the first quarter, La Salle rode on Inna Corcuera to set forth a 15-3 run to take control of the game by the second quarter. They would then uncork an 11-0 run in a span of under three minutes midway in the third quarter to put away the Lady Warriors. Nicole Garcia scored eight of those eleven markers, eventually finishing with a team-high fourteen, as well as eight rebounds and two assists to send UE to their second loss in three games.

Meanwhile, the Lady Bulldogs stifled the Lady Eagles in the second quarter, limiting them to just five points to give them a 36-22 halftime lead as they cruised towards the win. The ladies of Erika Dy struggled, committing ten turnovers in said quarter, sending them to back-to-back defeats after winning their first two games.

Shelly Gupitan led NU with fifteen points and eight rebounds, while Claire Aseron led Ateneo with eleven points and two assists.

NU will have the chance to be on level terms with La Salle on Wednesday morning, as the UAAP revealed that their postponed match with UE will take place at that time in the Mall of Asia Arena. Tip-off is expected to be at 10am. Their match had been deferred previously because of a slippery floor at the Blue Eagle Gym.

The other two games on Sunday saw Far Eastern University and Adamson join the Lady Eagles at 2-2 with respective victories over UST (57-56) and UP (57-44).

The Tigressess of coach Chris Cantonjos held a lead as large as eight points in the first half, but the Lady Tamaraws managed to crawl back, going on a 13-2 run to retake the lead in the 3rd quarter. What happened afterwards is a nip-and-tuck game, with no team holding a lead as large as six points.

Angel Arellano score the game-winning basket with over two minutes left, off an assist from Loraine Ventura. UST would have chances to take the win, but Maica Cortes, Jen Angeles, and Lore Rivera all missed their attempts in the final 107 seconds of the game.

Arellano would finish with a game-high 23 points FEU, while Rivera led UST with a double-double performance, netting seventeen and twelve in over 28 minutes of action.

The Soaring Lady Falcons relied on a strong defensive start, limiting UP to just two points in the opening quarter on 1/12 shooting. Although the Lady Maroons managed to fight back in the second and third quarters, the final quarter was all about Jingky Balasta.

Playing virtually all but 40 seconds of the final ten minutes, Balasta netted eighteen points in the period, outscoring the entire UP team by three points. She did so by making all six of her free throws and going 4/6 from beyond the arc.

The defeats send the Tigresses and the Lady Maroons form the basement of the league as of the moment with an 1-3 and 0-4 record respectively.

Updates from the High School Volleyball realm in the UAAP

The quest for their eleventh straight UAAP boys' volleyball title begins on a positive vibe for the University of the East, as they dispatched Ateneo in straight sets on Sunday at the Adamson Gym.

Ron Medalla and Ruvince Abrot led the charge to take the win, 25-12 25-17 and 25-14.

UST temporarily took hold of the top spot after netting two victories this past weekend, beating La Salle-Zobel in straight sets 25-15 25-22 and 25-22 on Saturday, before going the full limit against FEU-Diliman, 17-25 25-14 23-25 25-16 and 15-10 on Sunday.

The Junior Archers did manage to bounce back on Sunday by keeping UPIS winless, 25-22 25-17 and 26-24.

Last year's runners-up NU also had a promising start, needing four sets to take out the Junior Tamaraws, 23-25 25-23 25-15 and 25-15.

On the distaff side, National University eased past FEU-Diliman, 25-16 25-13 and 25-10, while UE needed five sets to beat Adamson, 25-19 25-23 14-25 14-25 and 15-13.

UPIS still remains winless after losing to La Salle-Zobel on Saturday, 25-14 25-14 and 25-12, and against Adamson on Sunday, 25-14 25-14 and 25-19.

La Salle maintains hold atop UAAP women's basketball

UAAP women's basketball standings:

DLSU 3-0
NU 2-0
ADMU 2-1
UE 1-1
UST, Adamson & FEU 1-2
UP 0-3

Season 76 women's basketball champions La Salle continue their winning form into Season 77 with a couple more victories this week at the Blue Eagle Gym.

The Lady Archers bested the Adamson Lady Falcons, 50-42 last Saturday. Afterwards, they manhandled the University of the Philippines Lady Maroons, 66-31, on Thursday.

Overcoming a slow start that saw them only scoring five points in the first ten minutes, DLSU answered by almost tripling that output in the next period. Ana Castilio led the charge by scoring all eight of her points in the quarter, matching the Lady Falcons' output as a team in the period. Camille Claro and Trisha Piatos combined to score all 15 of their points in the second half to preserve the win.

In contrast to their struggles on Thursday, La Salle had an easier time against winless UP, opening a 17-7 lead and cruising to a 66-31 blowout. Alyanna Ong and Steph Vergara combined to score 21 markers to ensure the defending champions are spotless after three games.

The Lady Falcons did bounce back from their loss to DLSU on Saturday with a narrow 48-47 victory over Far Eastern University.

Ana Valenzona missed what would have been the game-winning triple for the Lady Tamaraws with 3 seconds left to give Adamson their first win of the season. They had taken the lead with 44 seconds remaining in the game, thanks to a couple of free throws from Jingky Balasta that turned out to be the final points of the match. The Lady Falcons stifled FEU's offense, limiting them to just seven points in the final ten minutes to send them into a back-to-back tailspin this week.

FEU had previously lost to Ateneo, 58-55 on Saturday, giving the Lady Eagles their second win of the season, already surpassing last season's total. The Lady Tamaraws also had a similar disappointing performance in the final period, allowing Ateneo to score 23 points while only mustering 12 of their own.

Danica Jose contributed 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Ther Aseron added 14 of her own.

Unfortunately for the ladies of Erika Dy, they were unable to join La Salle atop the standings, falling late to UST, 55-54. The Tigresses relied on Mariella Isanan's game-winner with 15.7 seconds remaining to snatch their first victory of the season, after Sara Bo-ot missed what would have been the clinching lay-up for the Lady Eagles.

The Tigresses had been close to snagging that first win earlier in the week, but they fell short against National University, 62-60. The Lady Bulldogs could have joined the defending champions on top of the leaderboard, but a slippery court forced their match against the University of the East to be called off.

The next set of matches will take place on July 27 at the Blue Eagle Gym:

9am - UST vs FEU
11am - NU vs Ateneo
1pm - La Salle vs UE
3pm - UP vs Adamson

UAAP High School Volleyball to commence today

With the UAAP decision to move high school basketball to the second semester, it also resulted with the move to have the high school volleyball competition.

Season 77 for that competition officially commences today at the Adamson Gym, with triple-headers on deck for both the boys and girls section.

Kicking off the festivities are the boys, with Ateneo and UPIS opening play at 8am. National University tests newcomers FEU-Diliman at 930am, while capping things is the clash between La Salle-Zobel and UST at 11am.

The girls would then continue high school action with La Salle-Zobel against UPIS at 1230pm, followed by NU against FEU-Diliman at 2pm. The last match features Adamson against UE at 330pm.

The champions drew byes and will not participate on the opening day matches. Instead, they will commence play on Sunday. Both schools lose their respective MVPs, with UST beginning life after Ennajie Laure and UE with Edward Camposano.

Marbury back again in the Philippines for charity work

Former NBA All-Star and current Chinese Basketball superstar Stephon Marbury returned to the country on Friday for a weekend visit to continue his charity work, which is a desire to promote an active lifestyle as well as provide the youth with low-cost, high-quality footwear from his Starbury shoe line.

Kicking off the visit is a shoe-giving project with agent Sheryl Reyes, Sen. Sonny Angara and Manila vice mayor Isko Moreno at the Tondo National High School. And then on Saturday, he is scheduled to meet with the media with the launch of the Jersey for a Cause, in conjunction with Reyes and Jersey Haven, then host a fund-raising event at the Starwood Cafe in Makati at night.

Angara was convinced by the Coney Island-native's rags-to-riches story and his love for the Filipinos as his motive for joining the project. The chairman of the Senate Committee on Games, Amusement and Sports says that Marbury "continues to be an inspiration to kids worldwide because of his inspiring story of having come from humble beginnings to NBA superstardom." He welcomes Steph's decision of selecting the Philippines as one venue of his charitable efforts, citing "how much Filipinos love basketball" and how they "look up to him." 
 
In an e-mail, the two-time champion in the Chinese Basketball Association views this as an opportunity to share his blessings with the youth. He hopes that "one day, they will pay it forward and be a blessing to others.

Marbury has been active with his social work here in the country within the past few months, including a charity basketball event last August aimed to benefit the National Press Club's medical and educational assistance fund as well as the Ahon Pamilyang Lansangan Foundation. This weekend would constitute his fourth visit.

Title-retention bid for DLSU Lady Archers off to a bright start

Reigning UAAP women's basketball champions La Salle opened their title defense with a 56-50 victory over the UST Tigresses on the first day of action at the Blue Eagle Gym last Sunday.

Trisha Piatos made five triples on her way to 23 points to lead the Lady Archers, who return most of the players from the title-winning group.

Kim Reyes led the Tigresses with fourteen points and six rebounds, while Lore Rivera had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.

DLSU used an 18-9 run in the third period to overcome a one-point halftime deficit into an eight-point lead heading into the final canto, where they withstood a charge from UST in the final minutes.

Last season's runners-up National University aims to be one step better this time around, opening their season with a 62-46 victory over Adamson.

Afril Bernardino led the Lady Bulldogs with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Risa Paig and Andrea Tongco each contributing nine markers.

Jingky Balasta had 14 points for the Lady Falcons, who could only muster eight points in the third quarter, allowing NU to pull away.

Former champions Far Eastern University, whose quest for a three-peat was derailed by a controversy involving one of its players participating in an unsanctioned league, beat the University of the East, 52-37.

Bucking the absence of Season 76 MVP Camille Sambile due to graduation, the Lady Tamaraws overwhelmed the Amazons, particularly in the 3rd period, doubling up their opponents, 20-10.

April Siat scored 15 points for the win, while grabbing eight rebounds. Jacqueline Tanaman and Claire Castro each contributed eight markers. UE were led by Chery Joy Ano-os and Eunique Chan, who each netted twelve apiece, while combining for eighteen rebounds and three steals.

The other game saw Ateneo match its winning total from last season, securing a 54-42 triumph over the University of the Philippines.

Danica Jose delivered an 18-point, eight-rebound peformance to give her coach Erika Dy her first win as their new head coach.

The next set of women's basketball matches will be played again at the Blue Eagle Gym on Saturday, July 19. This was after the games scheduled on July 16 were postponed as a result of weather conditions brought about by Typhoon Glenda.

9am - Adamson vs La Salle
11am - UE vs UP
1pm - NU vs UST
3pm - FEU vs Ateneo

Meanwhile, making its first semester debut this season on Saturday as well is the juniors volleyball tournament.

To be played at the Adamson Gym, reigning champions UST and UE will attempt to extend their title reign in spite of key losses, in particular EJ Laure for the UST girls, and Edward Camposano for the UE boys.

Nike unveils Gilas Pilipinas FIBA World Cup kits

SMART-Gilas Pilipinas will be strutting in their new basketball uniforms when they play in Seville for the FIBA World Cup later this year.

Prepared by Nike and unveiled late June, the uniforms are made from the Nike Sphere fabric, which is more lightweight, breathable, and durable. It also allows for better sweat management, with the laser-cut perforations keeping the wearer ventilated. Articulated armholes provide a better and easier range of motion, which would be handy for shooters.

LA Tenorio believes the lighter weight of the new uniforms gives them a competitive on-court advantage, while also keeping them comfortable.

The design of the uniform evokes nationalism, highlighted by the eight-rayed golden sun aerographically designed at the back. The presence of the sun denotes an inspirational and motivational point for the team as it battles the best of what the world has to offer in Spain.

According to Marc Pingris, it is a reminder of its symbolic meaning of unity and sovereignty, adding that they "will wear this uniform proudly."

Head coach Chot Reyes says that basketball isn't just a sport for Filipinos, but one that is woven into its culture. He adds that Gilas Pilipinas will wear the new uniforms with pride, as they show the world what Filipino basketball is all about.

In addition to the sun, the boldness of the colors red and blue, as well as the wording of Pilipinas denotes a desire to bring spirit and vigor to the uniform.

Nike Philippines Country Manager Courtney Cole-Faso adds that they in Nike hope that the uniforms inspire the team to do great things in Spain, adding that their quest for glory has brought back the pride in Filipino basketball.

Fans can already secure these uniforms in both the home and away versions at all Nike-only outlets, as well as selected outlets of these stores:

Athletic Club, Toby’s, 1 United, Prostar, Planet Sports, Titan, Landmark, Lee Super Plaza, Royal Sporting House, Sports Central

Game 5 yields top-notch TV ratings

SanMig Super Coffee not only made history by clinching the Grand Slam on Wednesday night, but also helpted TV5 secure high viewership ratings.

Game 5 of the PBA PLDT Home Telpad Governors' Cup match between the Mixers and the Rain or Shine Elastopainters yielded a 34% audience share in the National Urban TV Audience Measurement (NUTAM) from 8-1130pm slot. It averaged over 4 million viewers or a 9.5% AMR.

At its peak, Game 5 yielded a 56.8% audience share, with 5.7 million viewers or 13.3% AMR. Such ratings allowed it to be better than some of the primetime soaps on the other networks.

Sports5 Head Chot Reyes remarked that this is a perfect ending to TV5's coverage of the PBA this season, reflecting how much Filipinos love the PBA with this tightly-contested finals matchup.

Gate attendance also reflected the hype, with 23,234 fans witnessing the game at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Ateneo de Manila University Ticketing Guidelines

The Ateneo de Manila University has released its ticketing guidelines for the upcoming UAAP season. Please abide by these procedures.

Ticket Selling Schedule:

Wednesday Game: Monday, 9 am until supplies last.
Saturday Game: Wednesday, 9 am until supplies last
Sunday Game: Thursday, 9 am until supplies last

Tickets sold at the Blue Eagle Gym will be sold only to the following:

1. Ateneo de Manila University alumni. (Those studying in the Loyola Schools (SOH, SOSS, JGSOM and SOSE), whether in college or post-college, have their own ticketing system via the College Athletics Office.)
2. Ateneo Grade School or Ateneo High School students, parents representing said student, faculty, and staff.
3. Ateneo Professional Schools students, faculty, and staff.
4. Central Administration staff of the university.

No PROXIES will be entertained in the line.

The College Athletics Office will also handle ticket selling for the Loyola Schools faculty and staff.

The University Atheltics Office (UAO), who manages the ticket selling at the Blue Eagle Gym, will ask for prospective buyers to provide any of the following ID cards:

Grade School/High School/ Ateneo Professional Schools student, faculty and staff: Ateneo I.D.
Grade School/High School parent representing a child: Child’s Ateneo I.D. and your own government issued I.D.
Central Administration Staff: Ateneo I.D.
Ateneo alums: Alumni Card or Any government issued I.D.

ONLY 2 tickets will be sold per person.

Ticketing Guidelines for Ateneo-La Salle games and postseason games are the same as above with the following additions: 

Ticket selling will take place at 7pm, but numbers that will be honored for that ticket selling will be released at 7am.

Ticket buyers need to be at the venue by 6pm to prevent complications when tickets will be released at the time prescribed.

Same ID used for the 7am release will be needed for the 7pm release.

MANAGEMENT RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SALES.

Here is Ateneo's schedule for collegiate basketball (men and women) in the first round. Women's matches are italicized and will be played at the Blue Eagle Gym.

July 13:

1pm - UP vs Ateneo
2pm - Ateneo vs Adamson at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum

July 16:

3pm - Ateneo vs Adamson

July 19:

3pm - FEU vs Ateneo

July 20:

11am - La Salle vs Ateneo at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum

July 23:

2pm - Ateneo vs UP at the Mall of Asia Arena

July 24:

11am - Ateneo vs UST

July 26:

4pm - Ateneo vs NU at the Mall of Asia Arena

July 27:

11am - NU vs Ateneo

August 3:

1pm - Ateneo vs La Salle
4pm - FEU vs Ateneo at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum

August 6:

4pm - Ateneo vs UST at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum

August 10:

2pm - UE vs Ateneo at the Mall of Asia Arena
3pm - UE vs Ateneo

Comprehensive UAAP Season 77 1st Round Schedule

Here is the Season 77 schedule for collegiate basketball (men and women). Juniors has since been moved to the second semester. Women's matches are italicized and will be played at the Blue Eagle Gym.

July 12 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

12nn - Opening Ceremonies
2pm - UE vs UP
4pm - La Salle vs FEU

July 13 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

9am - FEU vs UE
11am - NU vs Adamson
1pm - UP vs Ateneo
2pm - Ateneo vs Adamson
3pm - La Salle vs UST
4pm - NU vs UST

July 16 at the Mall of Asia Arena:

9am - UP vs NU
11am - La Salle vs FEU
1pm - UST vs UE
2pm - UST vs UE
3pm - Ateneo vs Adamson
4pm - Adamson vs FEU

July 19 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

9am - Adamson vs La Salle
11am - UE vs UP
1pm - NU vs UST
2pm - NU vs UP
3pm - FEU vs Ateneo
4pm - Adamson vs UE

July 20 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum

11am - La Salle vs Ateneo
4pm - UST vs FEU

July 23 at the Mall of Asia Arena

2pm - Ateneo vs UP
4pm - NU vs La Salle

July 24:

9am - UE vs NU
11am - Ateneo vs UST
1pm - UP vs La Salle
3pm - Adamson vs FEU

July 26 at the Mall of Asia Arena:

2pm - UST vs Adamson
4pm - Ateneo vs NU

July 27 at the Mall of Asia Arena:

9am - UST vs FEU
11am - NU vs Ateneo
1pm - La Salle vs UE
2pm - UP vs FEU

3pm - UP vs Adamson
4pm - UE vs La Salle

July 30 at the Mall of Asia Arena:

2pm - FEU vs UE
4pm - Adamson vs NU

August 2 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

2pm - UP vs UST
4pm - La Salle vs Adamson

August 3 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

9am - Adamson vs UE
11am - UP vs UST
1pm - Ateneo vs La Salle
2pm - NU vs UE
3pm - FEU vs NU
4pm - FEU vs Ateneo

August 6 at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum:

2pm - UP vs La Salle
4pm - Ateneo vs UST

August 9 at the Mall of Asia Arena

2pm - Adamson vs UP
4pm - NU vs FEU

August 10 at the Mall of Asia Arena

9am - FEU vs UP
11am - UST vs Adamson
1pm - NU vs La Salle
2pm - UE vs Ateneo
3pm - UE vs Ateneo
4pm - La Salle vs UST

Infinit-O dethrones EGS for 2014 BPO Classics crown

Infinit Outsourcing, Inc. capped its dominant campaign with a 90-82 victory over Export Global Solutions in the Competitive Division of the 2014 BPO Classics tournament at the Makati Coliseum.

Cyrus Malagueno and Norman Nunez combined for 50 points for Infinit-O in the title clincher at the Makati Coliseum, with Sherwin Castro and Ceris Neil Bunye adding a combined 27 points for the squad, who swept the eliminations on their way to the title.

John Valiente Magtalas led the deposed champions with 21 points, powered by six triples.

In addition to the Competitive Division the BPO Classics Tournament also had an Intermediate and Recreational Division. EXL Service Philippines sealed the Intermediate Division with a 71-62 victory over Xerox. Patrick Belen led the way with 29 points. Shell Business Service Centre - Manila took the Recreational Division title crown by beating AMMEX I-Support, 67-56.

A peek at the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas in practice

On Wednesday morning, I had the chance to do something few people are able to accomplish, and that is to watch and observe the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas practice. Thanks to our friends from Gatorade Philippines, I got that checked off the bucket list.

Gatorade Philippines had their turnover ceremony with the team that day, as one of its endorsers.

Gatorade Philippines conducting their turnover ceremony to head coach Chot Reyes, manager Aboy Castro, and team members LA Tenorio and Ranidel de Ocampo.

I technically was not going to be able to witness this, as it had supposedly been scheduled to take place the night before, but fortunately for me, there was a change of plans, and voila, I got myself the the chance to attend this event.

The venue was at the Meralco Gym, where it is written that it is the home of the Meralco Bolts. Of course, there was John Wilson shooting jumpers.



And then there was Ryan Gregorio doing the same thing. He and Wilson had a shooting contest. Not sure who won between the two, but they were stroking it.



Gatorade allowed us to handle quick interviews with some members of the team, as well as Team Manager Aboy Castro and lastly, head coach Chot Reyes. The output of those interviews will be on the next few succeeding posts.

While waiting for the photo op of the turnover (and the chance to interview Chot), we had the chance to watch the practice unfold.

Been blessed to be able to witness @coachot and the @smartgilasph practice. Thankful to our friends at @GatoradePH. pic.twitter.com/6DEj0yW5YW
— John Paul Manahan (@misterjpmanahan) July 9, 2014

With Game 5 scheduled to tip off, Paul Lee and Beau Belga were not around for the practice, but Gilas cadet Jake Pascual was present to complement the remaining ten players present.

There were two five-man units: an Alas-Lanete-Dillinger-Washington-Fajardo unit against a Tenorio-David-Aguilar-De Ocampo-Douthit unit.

Jong Uichico, Josh Reyes and Nash Racela were present to help out Chot with running practice. Jong handled one set of players while Chot handled the other, as they ran sets and executed situations.


Right now, I believe they are already in Wuhan, about to participate in the upcoming FIBA-Asia Asia Cup. They have the photo proof to show they are already almost at their destination.

At HK airport. On the way to Wuhan for FIBA Asia Cup. @coachot pic.twitter.com/oXlcJLFAzm
— Garvo Lanete (@garvothe13) July 10, 2014

God bless Gilas Pilipinas in their quest to make history.

The Naismith Trophy is in Manila

As part of its campaign to bring awareness to the FIBA World Cup, the Naismith Trophy will be making its way to Philippine shores this weekend.

This trophy is what our Gilas Pilipinas ballers shall be striving to claim in Spain from August 30 to September 15.

For three days, it will grace certain locations around the metro, like Luneta and Intramuros, but the main venues to see it is the SM Megamall Atrium on July 4 & 5, then at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall on July 6, where it will share the stage with the NBA 3X Philippines.

Stephon Marbury schedules 4th Manila visit

Illustration from Sheryl Reyes' Twitter account

He's coming back to Manila again.

Stephon Marbury will be making his way to Manila later this month to conduct another fundraising project, as well as officially launch his Starbury line in the Philippines.

In an email to his agent, Sheryl Reyes, the Georgia Tech standout "can't wait to be back," and appreciates the love that the Philippines has always shown towards him.

He adds that he wants to "be a blessing to others," and doing his share in uplifting the lives of others, noting that there are a lot of people, particularly sick children, needing help.

Marbury's latest fundraiser is a collaboration with Jersey Haven for their "Jersey for a Cause" project, with some of the proceeds earmarked towards the Ahon Pamilyang Lansangan Foundation's work with Biliary Atresia-afflicted children. Proceeds will also benefit the National Press Club of the Philippines, specifically for the funding of its medical and educational assistance programs for its members and their immediate families.

Details on the design and price of the limited edition jersey will be revealed at a later date.

Steph will also have a shoe drive with Sen. Sonny Angara at selected locations during his three-day stay.

Marbury was limited to 12 games in his 3rd season with the Beijing Ducks of the Chinese Basketball Association, averaging under 17 ppg. However, he took it up a notch in the postseason, scoring 25.7 points, which included a 43-point outburst against Guandong on March 8. He capped that off by leading the Ducks to their second CBA crown in the last three seasons.