Diona, Skyhawks soar, secure 1st UCAL victory

Newcomer World Citi Colleges (WCC) registered its first win in the Universities and Colleges Athletic League-PG Flex Linoleum 7th Season men’s basketball tournament with a 71-61 win over Philippine Women’s University (PWU) on Monday at the Paco Arena in Manila.

After a tight contest in the first three quarters, the Skyhawks opened the payoff period with back-to-back triples courtesy of Ralph De Guzman and RB Lara to pull away for good, enough to make up for the team’s 66-54 loss to league-leading Manila Central University (MCU) on Saturday.

Student-athlete Musa Diona starred again for the Skyhawks, posting a double-double of 20 points and 16 rebounds aside from dishing out three assists in almost 34 minutes of action.

He got significant support from Lara who rifled in two triples on the way to his 15-point show while De Guzman chipped in eight points in the event also backed by Akari, Café France, Advance Solutions Inc., Smart Sports, Spalding, Team Rebel Sports, Quintana Sports, Crane Faucet, Hapee Toothpaste, Jiang Nan Restaurant, Vital, Top Flite Academy, Maruyama, and Gerry’s Grill.

In the other game, Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas caught fellow opening-day winner Diliman College napping in the first two quarters and scored a 76-70 win.

Ram Mesqueriola came off the bench to lead the Dolphins in posting their second straight win with 18 points. Kingsley Anaba and Jay-R Pronda added 16 and 15 points, respectively, with the former completing a double-double with 11 rebounds.