Technological Institute of the Philippines withstood a Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas fightback to carve out a 76-68 win in the Universities and Colleges Basketball League (UCBL) Season 3 Monday at Olivarez College in Parañaque City.
The Dolphins threatened at 62-64 before Brian Santos, Jopet Soriano and Russell Tan nailed the key baskets in the final 3:30 to preserve the Engineers advantage.
In the earlier game, Diliman College overpowered newcomer St. Joseph, 126-71, to open its campaign on a smashing note.
Coach Potit de Vera was not satisfied the way his troops performed, as TIP squandered a 55-40 lead midway in the second half.
"We did not execute what we wanted. It did not happen the way we planned it. The composure was lost," said de Vera.
"I hope it's just because of the first game jitters that we forgot to play as a team. Hopefully, things get better next Monday against LPU-Batangas," he added.
Senegal's Papa Ndiaye led the Engineers with 16 points, 22 rebounds and five blocks while Bryan Santos also scored 16 points to go with eight boards.
Venedict Remolacio paced PCU-Dasmariñas with 13 points and six rebounds while Congo's Lucien Mulamba added 12 points and 18 rebounds.
Benin's Kevine Gandjeto had an impressive debut with 20 points, six rebounds, five blocks and two assists, John Mahari added 17 points, eight boards and three assists, while McArthur Enriquez chipped in 13 points and seven assists for the Blue Dragons.
Diliman's 126 points is the league's all-time highest output.
The Blue Dragons shared the ball well with 38 assists with playmaker Jaen Salazar accounting for 12, three more than St. Joseph's total. Diliman also dominated the rebounding department, 59-36.
John Kenneth Taverner led St. Joseph with 16 points while Richard Salarza was the other player in twin digits with 13 markers.
The scores:
First Game
Diliman (126) - Gandjeto 20, Mahari 17, Enriquez 13, Pacheco 10, Brutas 10, Darang 9, Ligon 9, Digno 8, Salazar E. 8, Bauzon 7, Coquia 6, Sombero 4, Lisika 3, Salazar J. 2, Tay 0.
St. Joseph (71) - Taverner 16, Salarza 13, Buenaventura 7, Esteban 6, Leguin 6, Lozano 6, Bernal 6, Rupinta 5, Intal 4, Cabuhat 2, Adriano 0, Jordan 0.
Quarterscores: 37-22, 63-31, 92-52, 126-71
Second Game
TIP (76) - Ndiaye 16, Santos B. 16, Soriano 9, Tan 7, Jimenez 7, Sena 6, Santos I. 6, Palisoc 5, Ramos 4, Navarro 0, Ramilo 0, Verzosa 0.
PCU-Dasmariñas (68) - Remolacio 13, Mulamba 12, Crisostomo 10, Diez 8, Austria 7, Palomo 6, Frias 4, Baccol 4, Daitol 4, Mangadan 0, Liza 0, Ordiz 0, Peralta 0.
Quarterscores: 20-14, 35-26, 58-47, 76-68