Centro Escolar University and defending champion Olivarez College continued their dominant runs, keeping themselves on a collision course in the PGFlex-UCAL Season 8 Basketball Tournament on Monday at the Paco Arena.

Banking on a third-quarter surge, the CEU Scorpions crushed the Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas Dolphins, 80-67, securing their seventh straight victory in as many games and maintaining their lead atop the nine-team tournament.

Hot on their heels are the Olivarez Sea Lions, who notched their sixth consecutive win with a 79-66 rout of the Manila Central University Supremos, powered by another stellar performance from Hanz Maycong.

Meanwhile, two-time champion Diliman College snapped an alarming three-game skid with a 74-63 triumph over the University of Batangas, while Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas handed Philippine Women’s University a reality check with a 72-58 drubbing.

The PWU Patriots came into the game riding the momentum of a thrilling 74-73 victory over Immaculada Concepcion College exactly a week ago, a win that ended a 27-game losing streak spanning three seasons.

They led 14-13 after the first quarter, but the game dramatically shifted in the second quarter as the Pirates leveraged their size and physicality to dominate, building a 42-28 advantage. PWU never recovered and fell to their fifth loss in six starts, while PCU-D improved to 3-3.

Four CEU players scored in double figures, but Mark Sarza stood out with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting.

Precious Momowei, a transferee from the University of the East, contributed his sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

For Diliman College, 6-foot-8 foreign student-athlete Solomon Kone delivered a monster performance, posting 33 points on 12-of-18 shooting and hauling in 22 rebounds as the Blue Dragons climbed to a tie with the Dolphins for third place.

The post CEU, Olivarez keep perfect runs alive in UCAL appeared first on Tiebreaker Times.

“It was never about money with Kai.”

That was the statement of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Ricky Vargas.

Sotto’s FIBA record tells the story.

Despite being only 23 years old, the 7-foot-3 center has already played in 50 national team games, including 20 caps in the senior division.

(C) B.League

However, even after a month of playing for Koshigaya—where he is averaging 11.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks across eight games this season—Sotto had to skip Window 2 of the FIBA World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers as he continues to recover from the ACL injury he sustained a year ago.

His participation in Window 3 remains uncertain—but for a different, yet equally commendable, reason.

Although he went undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft, Sotto is still chasing his NBA dream.

He can either try out for an NBA team in the NBA Summer League, which starts on July 6—overlapping with Window 3 on July 3 and 6—or take a longer path by committing to an NCAA Division I program.

The NCAA’s rules on amateurism have evolved over the past two years, allowing players to compete in college as long as they have not signed an NBA contract.

This season, several former G League players have returned to college basketball, including James Nnaji of Baylor and Ignite product Thierry Darlan of Santa Clara. Another former Ignite standout, London Johnson, is set to play for Louisville in the 2026-27 season.

Former EuroLeague players have also taken the collegiate route.

Italian winger Dame Sarr, who suited up for FC Barcelona a year ago, is now in Duke; Montenegrin guard Luka Bogavac, previously with SC Derby, is now in North Carolina; while Serbian point guard Mihailo Petrović, who played for Mega Superbet, is now in Illinois.

Photo from G League Ignite

Sotto originally bypassed the collegiate system in 2020 when he chose to join G League Ignite.

(C) Adelaide 36ers

The former Ateneo Blue Eaglet then went on to play for NBL club Adelaide as a “special restricted player,” followed by Hiroshima and Yokohama in the 2023-24 B.League season, and is now with Koshigaya.

(C) Orlando Magic/NBAE

In 2023, he also joined Orlando’s Summer League team.

The SBP is aware of Sotto’s plans, but nothing has been finalized yet. If he joins an NCAA Division I program after the B.League season, he will likely be unavailable for Gilas from November to March.

Still, the SBP supports whatever path Sotto chooses to pursue in achieving his NBA dream.

“Depende sa outcome sa pagsali niya sa eskwelahan. His plans are still towards going to the NBA. Pero kailangan natin siya. It’s hard to fault him because it’s not about the money; he wants to play (in the NBA),” said Vargas.

“Playing for the country and sacrificing your dreams is notable. Going for your dream and representing the country is also notable. Both are correct.”

The post Kai Sotto’s next step could be NCAA as NBA ambitions continue appeared first on Tiebreaker Times.

Nearly eight years after the infamous brawl between Gilas Pilipinas and the Australian Boomers at the Philippine Arena in July 2018, tensions that once boiled over have finally cooled—but the memory still lingers.

That chaotic game, which saw benches clear and tempers flare, left both sides with bruised egos and a lingering rivalry.

On Sunday evening, however, Gilas Pilipinas and the Boomers met on a Philippine court once more.

For Australia head coach John Peter Rillie, the past was firmly behind them.

The Perth Wildcats tactician heaped praise on the Filipino fans for their electric support at the venue.

“It was a terrific atmosphere, that was a good regional FIBA game,” Rillie said.

“Thank you to the Manila community for coming out and supporting the game the way they did, and I’m happy my team played as well as they did.”

On the court, the Boomers backed up their coach’s praise with a commanding performance, dismantling the Philippines 93-66 to close out the second window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers.

After a closely contested first half, Australia pulled away in the final 20 minutes, executing Rillie’s game plan to perfection.

“We knew the Philippines would come out really hard at the start of the game due to their game against New Zealand, so we needed to weather that storm,” he explained.

Gilas stuck to their strategy from last Thursday, applying relentless defensive pressure and even taking a brief lead with 1:39 left in the first quarter.

But Australia’s depth and endurance eventually wore down the Filipino side.

“I felt our intent defensively for forty minutes was pretty good, and we just wore ‘em down over the course of the forty minutes,” Rillie added.

Looking ahead to the final window of round one, which Australia will host, Rillie anticipates a strong showing from the Filipino supporters down under.

“I know in Perth, or wherever the next round may be, there’s a great Filipino community,” he said.

“I know they’ll come out, and that’ll create a great atmosphere for us, so it’ll be a good game once again.”

With old wounds healed and a rematch set in Australia this July, Rillie closed the Manila window with gratitude toward the Gilas faithful.

“Thanks for the hospitality that we’ve received here in the Philippines. It’s been a terrific couple of games for our group.”

The post Brawl memories fade as Boomers coach lauds Filipino hospitality appeared first on Tiebreaker Times.