THE 1980 Chargers pulled the rug from under the No. 2 seed 1988 Barakos, with a 64-54 win in the lone rubber-match in Division 1 of the USC-NABC President’s Cup 2016 over the weekend at the University of San Carlos North Campus gym.
Lorenzo Balankig wreaked havoc for the selection squad by scoring 31 points to score the upset against the heavy favorites Barakos who were earlier primed to face the defending champions 1985 Legends in this conference finals.
However, the Chargers proved to be battle-ready when they silenced the guns of the Barakos who played without its leading scorer Edmund Odulio.
The scoring cudgels went to Dindo Sausa who finished with 21 points, while no other 1988 player finished in double-digit as the No. 2 seed got eliminated from the semifinal round.
With the Chargers’ win, the cast of the semifinal round is already complete with the Chargers set to face the 1993 Dragons in a knockout match for the right to make the division finals against the winner of the other semifinal match between 1985 Legends and the 1994 Bulldogs.
In Division 2, the semifinal pairing is between the 2002 Legendary Lions against the 1997 Ronnis and the 1999ers and the Sipat -98, while in Division 3, top seed 2011 Elevens will play the 2015 Samurais and the 2006 Fury takes on the2008 Fly Boys.
The semifinal round will be on Sept. 10 and 11.
Helping Balankig demolish the Barakos was Diaz who made 18 points.