by Henry Liao (72)

The Xavier Juniors will take a 15-match winning streak into the Chiang Kai Shek gym Wednesday night (January 27) when the Golden Stallions clash with St. Jude Catholic School in a battle of unbeaten teams in the Juniors Division of the 40th Freego Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association tournament.

Xavier School, the two-time defending champion, paces the single round-robin elimination phase in the seven-school competitions with an unblemished 5-0 record.  St. Jude, last year’s runner-up, is second at 4-0.

Both schools have drawn a quarterfinal bye in the upcoming playoffs and have secured the two automatic semifinal tickets that carry a twice-to-beat advantage.  The Xavier School vs. St. Jude game, a matchup between the league’s No. 1 offensive team (XS) and No. 1 defensive squad (St. Jude) will determine the playoff seedings.  The winner will be seeded No. 1 while the loser will be seeded No. 2.

Over the weekend, at the Jacinto Tiu Competition Court inside the Xavier School campus, the Golden Stallions picked up their fourth and fifth victories in the current tournament. On January 22, the Gold and Blue pulled off a hard-earned 100-83 decision over Hope Christian High School (2-2) in an exciting, freewheeling contest that was characterized by several momentum swings.

The following day (January 23), in a mismatch between the league’s pacesetter and tailender, Xavier manhandled Uno High School, 133-76, to claim its fifth victory in a row this season. It was the second-highest scoring game for the Xaverians in the tournament, having opened the season with a 134-58 demolition of Grace Christian College also at the Jacinto Tiu Competition Court.

Xavier got off to a 5-0 start, behind a Ng three and a Teng basket, and never looked back.  Quarter scores were 37-12, 63-30, 95-59 and 133-76. Teng topscored for the Gold and Blue with 27 points.  Manuel made his first 10 field-goal attempts and finished with 24 points on a 10-for-11 clip, including 4-for-5 from the three-point area. Ng contributed 15 points in 13 minutes and Caesar Wongchuking had his highest scoring game of the Tiong Lian season with 10.

The Xavier Juniors have not lost a Tiong Lian game since February 2008.  After taking Game Three of the 2008 TL finals against Chiang Kai Shek, the Stallions cruised to a 9-0 record in 2009, and currently have a 5-0 record entering their game against St. Jude Catholic School on January 27.