The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Robert Andaya
JIXI City, Heilongjiang – The Philippines, represented by the University of the East, clobbered Jilin Northeast Tigers, 104-77, for a winning start in the 37th Promotion Cup international invitational basketball tournament at the Jixi Convention and Exhibition Center here late Tuesday.
Handled by former PBA coach Chris Gavina and team manager Jean Alabanza, the Red Warriors took control with an early 33-15 lead in the first quarter and never looked back on the way to a lopsided victory in this, four-nation tournament being held in this beautiful city located in the southeastern Heilongjiang Province.
The Warriors, whose participation in this prestigious, eight-team tournament is arranged by Armstrong Philippines and supported by Tanduay Athletics and the UE community, also led 55-40, at halftime, and 87-65, after three quarters.
John Abate, a 6-3 find from Orange Park High School in the United States, topscored for the Red Warriors with 20 points.
Three other players put up double-digit scores for UE, with Drew Jimenez adding 13 points; Mark Joseph Cabero contributing 12 points; and Mariano Tañedo 11 points.
UE also got nine points each from Ronjie Go and Nicolo Alfonso Mulingtapang, eight points from Kristoper Lagat, seven points from Drayton Caoile, six points from Nurjadden Datumalim, and three points each from Reynaldo Malaga, Cole Cruz-Dumont and Dyland Benedict Despi.
“I feel like our journey here is already well worth it after only our first game. I’m really happy that we played really well considering several hours of travel. We really took the opportunity to showcase our skills and preparation for this great tournament,” said Gavina, who was appointed as head coach of the team only last February.
“We’re very thankful to the (organizing) committee for welcoming us here in this beautiful city,” added Gavina, who is hoping to use the week-long international tournament to fine-tune the team before the formal start of the UAAP season next month.
Hou Xuan led the Jikin Tigers with a game-high 33 points, followed by Zhang Borui with nine points and Zhang Furan, Li Xiangchao, and Jiang Ge with seven points each.
A total of eight teams, including two Russian and four Chinese squads, are participating in the competition.
Joining UE-Philippines in Group A are the Jilin Tigers, Heilongjiang and Habas.
In Group B are Malaysia, Jixi City, Liaoning and Vladivostok of Russia.
The top two teams from each group after the elimination round will advance to the crossover semis. The losers will play in the classificaiton phase to determine the final placings.
UE’s trip to Jixi is arranged by Armstrong Philippines, headed by Norman Gomez.
