BACOLOD Tay Tung High School advances to the National Basketball Training Center Regional Qualifiers tentatively on February 22 to 23 in Kalibo, Aklan after dominating the just-concluded NBTC provincial/cities qualifiers held over the weekend in Sagay City.
Thunderbolts’ twin towers Henjz Demisana and Dritter Ilalto scored 15 points each to lead their team to a convincing 83-59 opening game victory against San Carlos City leg champions Tañon College.
The Bacolod leg champions posted a 21-13 first-quarter advantage behind Rafael Cagalawan’s pair of triples as Martin Beatingo and Kent Esparagoza delivered 4 points each while Felix Unabia Jr. hit 4 points for Tañon.
However, Tay Tung put up a great wall against the San Carlos-based team which struggled to find their range for only 12 points in the second quarter as the former surged to 28 markers for a 49-25 at the half.
Tay Tung successfully defended their 24-point lead in the first half to secure the win despite the challenge from their Tañon counterparts in the second half which equalized their 32-point output.
Supporting Demisana and Ilalto are Cagalawan with 13 points, Jules Wong with 10 and Beatingo with 9 markers.
The Thunderbolts, also disposed Sagay City’s MDM College, 91-81 to complete their campaign in this qualifier.
Tay Tung’s head coach Ronald Despi thanked everyone for support their quest. “Thank you God for another blessing,” he claimed.
The team will now turn their focus in the ongoing WVPRISAA in Roxas City in Capiz, and the upcoming Western Visayas Regional Athletic Meet in Makato, Aklan on February 15-21.
The NBTC provincial/city qualifiers were supervised by tournament commissioner Benny Lachica.