Bleacher Talk

--> UV, NU Win SBP Passerelle National Championships Roxas City - The University of the Visayas (UV) and National University (NU) are this year’s Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) and Passerelle national champions. UV squeaked past four-time defending champion La Salle Greenhills, 62-58, to bag the SBP division championship while NU dominated International School for Better Beginnings, 89-65, at the national finals of the 34 th SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament backed by Milo at the Dinggoy Roxas Civic Center. UV leaned on the big performances of its second and third period crews to gain control of the game after a close first period that ended at 16-15 in UV’s favor. The lead ballooned to 35-24 at the end of the second period behind the leadership of Denver Bisnar who had eleven points in the period. The stifling full-court pressure of UV limited La Salle to nine second period points. UV maintained the 11-point margin by the end of the third period, 53-42, a

--> It’s La Salle vs UV / NU vs. ISBB Roxas City – Five-Peat seeking La Salle Greenhills and the University of the Visayas (UV) clash anew in a rematch for the Small Basketeers Philippines division championship at the national finals of the 34th SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament backed by Milo. In the Passerelle division, Nazareth School of National University (NU) will defend its title againt first-time finalist International School for Better Beginnings of Lucena. The match-ups were set after all four teams registered two straight wins each on opening day of the weekend tournament held at the Dinggoy Roxas Civic Center. La Salle Greenhills was dominant in bulldozing past Corpus Christi School of Cagayan de Oro, 91-51, and Berkeley School of Baguio, 93-34. UV was right up there with La Salle, beating Berkeley School, 79-14, and Corpus Chrisi, 82-62, setting the showdown of a rematch. La Salle Greenhills squeaked past UV, 42-38, at last year’s championship game and

Can the rest of the basketball country beat a team from the National Capital Region? Do we in the probinsya have a shot at proving that they are not invincible? We find ourselves in a situation like this at the national finals of the SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament backed by Milo. It’s taking place yesterday and today in Roxas City, and has brought together the top teams per region to a weekend tournament. In the Small Basketeers Philippines (SBP) division, La Salle Greenhills is a four-peat national champion and is determined to score a 5-Peat here. They face the challenge of Cebu’s very own University of the Visayas, representing the Visayas, Berkeley School of Baguio (representing Luzon) and Mindanao champion Corpus Christi School of Cagayan de Oro. From the looks of it, La Salle Greenhills is tipped to score a 5-Peat but UV is out to make sure this doesn’t happen. Note that UV gave La Salle a good challenge in last year’s national finals championship game, bowing, 38-42, in

Roxas City - Can the La Salle Greenhills SBP basketball team score a 5-Peat national championship? Will National University’s Passerelle basketball team win a second straight national championship? Both questions will be answered as the national finals of the 34 th SBP SBP Passerelle Twin Tournament sponsored by Milo kicks off on Saturday, November 23, at the Dinggoy Roxas Civic Center in Roxas City. La Salle Greenhills, national champions of the SBP division since 2015, is seeking its fifth straight championship. It will face challenge from Visayas champion University of the Visayas of Cebu, Mindanao champion Corpus Christi School of Cagayan de Oro and Luzon champion Berkeley School of Baguio. Meanwhile, National University seeks to create its own dynasty in the Passerelle division as it takes its highly-touted line-up to the weekend tournament also backed by Chris Sports, SKLZ and Rain or Shine. Out to challenge the Bullpups are Mindanao champion Xavier University High S

Did you watch Game 1 of the UAAP Finals between Ateneo de Manila and University of Sto. Tomas yesterday? And how about Game 2 of the NCAA Finals between San Beda and Letran Friday night, or the do-or-die game between UST and the University of the Philippines last Wednesday? I don’t know about you, but I thought these were all great graphic testimonies of two collegiate leagues that are giving the PBA a run for the money (literally and figuratively). The venue is packed with supporters of both sides of each game, complete with school colors, cheers, yells, chants, flags, banners and other “props,” the more creative and unique, the better. Although we’re watching this on TV, we can feel the atmosphere pierce through the TV screen, as if you were part of the live audience. Exaggeration maybe, but so true, di ba? We are in both envy and awe at how these leagues, most notably the UAAP, have grown so much since its early days, and how these have now become a must-watch