THE Holy Cross of Davao College (HCCD) Crusaders stayed unbeaten after hacking out a 69-48 win over St. John Paul College of Davao (SJPCD) in the resumption of the 80th Araw ng Dabaw Sports Festival Inter-Collegiate Basketball Tournament held at the Almendras Gym Davao City Recreation Center recently.
Jhayston Oquias scored game-high 14 points while teammate Harry Dumagan and James Linares added 12 and 10 points, respectively, as the Crusaders secured the top spot in bracket A with a clean 4-0 record.
Dariel James Bayla and Carlito Rodriguez Jr., meanwhile, combined for 20 baskets for SPJCD that absorbed its first defeat after four outings.
Crusaders head coach Isaias Gravador said his players played well despite the long rest due to the constant changing of schedules.
"I'm just happy with the boys. We were a little rusty but just happy to be able to pull out a win," Gravador, who coached the Davao men's basketball team to a golden finish in the 9th Bimp-Eaga Friendship Games in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Gravador said they will try to improve their offense when they face the University of Mindanao (UM) on May 8 at the same venue.
"UM plays differently because they try to outbalance your offense by applying different kinds of zone defense," Gravador said, adding that they still need to win their two remaining games before the quarterfinals.
HCDC is playing sans Lean Martel who opted to join San Beda Red Lions but Gravador said they are not after winning the championship
this time.
SJPCD collides with UM at 10 a.m. on Thursday, May 4.