Author: Fullcourtfresh.com

Special edition makeup of LeBron X commemorates fourth MVP title in five years

Nike is celebrating LeBron James’ fourth MVP award with a special edition LEBRON X MVP shoe and a new “Witness History” campaign.

James becomes only the second player to win four MVP titles in five years, joining the select group of four-time MVPs in the award’s 58-year history.

To mark the historic honor, James is wearing a special edition LEBRON X MVP shoe specifically designed by Nike Basketball to commemorate this achievement.

The vibrant LEBRON X MVP shoe fuses the unique colorways and designs of each style in the LEBRON X series, which James debuted in August 2012. The design details, including MVP on the shoe tongue, weave the story of James’s incredible journey over the past year. It’s a path that has seen him striving for excellence by perfecting his shooting efficiency, assists and rebounds to cut through defense effectively as an individual and as a team. Along the way, James has traveled from the courts of London to the hardwood arena of Miami, achieving victory in an extraordinary 27-game winning streak.

With the release of the LEBRON X MVP shoe, Nike pays tribute to a player who has earned his place in basketball history through his unwavering dedication to the pursuit of greatness.

The LEBRON X MVP shoe will be available in limited quantities at select retailers in North America and China soon.

(FCF / Ralph Samson)

Despite a lackluster showing against tougher opposition in the top flight of Asian Five Nations (A5N) Rugby, the Philippine Volcanoes salvaged a 24-8 victory over UAE on home soil to narrowly keep their standing as part of the elite rugby teams in Asia.

Fullcourtfresh.com lensman Ralph Samson was on hand at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila on Saturday night to witness the Volcanoes’ lone victory this season.

Red Lions extends winning run to three; UE, Adamson cruise to victories

UE swingman Ralf Olivarez puts up a jumper in their Filoil Flying V Pre-Season game against UST on Saturday. (FCF / Vyn Radovan)

San Beda College marks their return to Philippine soil with a victory over Far Eastern University, while University of the East and Adamson University compiled blowout victories in Saturday’s Filoil Flying V Pre-Season men’s tripleheader at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Red Lions, fresh off their Los Angeles trip for their pre-season training camp, escaped with a narrow 80-76 victory over FEU in the day’s featured matchup.

(FCF / Vyn Radovan)

Using their superior ball movement, led by steady point guard Baser Amer who turned in eight assists in the contest, SBC were able to feed off the ball to the likes of Arthur dela Cruz and Ola Adeogun who were able to score inside the paint.

Dela Cruz topped the red and white with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Adeogun added 15 points and nine rebounds for the three-time defending NCAA champions’ cause.

RR Garcia, who tallied 13 points in the second half, finished with 23 in the match in a losing cause.

Meanwhile, rookie Ralf Olivarez maintaned a perfect shooting slate throughout UE’s 85-68 wire-to-wire victory over University of Santo Tomas.

A product of Cagayan de Oro, Olivarez put up 17 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 from the foul line. JR Sumido had 16, while Roi Sumang added 15 points.

Despite the Growling Tigers bringing down the lead to five by the tail end of the 3rd quarter, the rejuvenated Red Warriors resurrected their advantage to 21 midway through the final canto and never looked back.

Aljon Mariano tallied 15 points and 7 rebounds off the bench, while Jeric Teng was the only starter in double figures with 13.

Earlier, Ingrid Sewa and the rest of Adamson U downed Benilde, 80-63, to move over .500 after five games.

The 6-foot-10 Cameroonian towed the Falcons in the middle, putting up 24 points and 12 rebounds to his tally. Jericho Cruz led all scorers with 25.

The Blazers, who slid down with a 2-4 mark, relied on forward Mark Romero alone to carry the scoring cudgels with 21 points.

In the women’s division, Lyceum of the Philippines finally nailed their first victory in four games at the expense of the still-winless Ateneo de Manila University, 68-53.

Mhean Vasquez of the Lady Pirates finished with 20 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals in the contest.

Benilde nabs Pool B title over UPLB

(FCF / Martin San Diego)

University of the Philippines-Diliman once again reigned supreme, as they successfully defended their title in the 2013 National Ultimate Collegiate Championship on Sunday.

The Diliman squad topped out 11 other university-based teams in the two-day ultimate tournament sponsored by Gold’s Gym, bobble, Coppertone, Wengman Sports Apparel, Nissin, Red Bull, and Fullcourtfresh.com held at the Sunken Garden at the UP Diliman campus.

Finishing as the second-seeded squad in Group A, UP-D scored a 15-5 victory over University of Santo Tomas to claim the Pool A title. On the other hand, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde defeated University of the Philippines-Los Baños, 10-9, to emerge as the Pool B champion.

Meanwhile, De La Salle University settled for third place after claiming a tight 11-10 victory over erstwhile undefeated Ateneo de Manila in a clash of the elimination round leaders.

For more information on the tournament, interested parties may contact event heads Sophie Nadine Servano at 0905 908 9236, Mela Abesamis at 0917 523 0277, or tournament director Kenneth Landicho at 0926 624 3734.

Katipunan-based ultimate squad goes unbeaten in five matches

(FCF / Ralph Samson)

Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University topped their respective groups in the first day of the 2013 National Ultimate Collegiate Championship on Saturday at the UP Diliman Sunken Garden grounds.

As an incentive for their top finish in the eliminations of the tournament supported by Gold’s Gym, bobble, Coppertone, Wengman Sports Apparel, Nissin, Red Bull, and official media partner Fullcourtfresh.com, both Ateneo and La Salle gain an automatic quarterfinal round match against the last placed teams in the crossover playoffs in Day 2.

Clustered together with teams such as San Beda, Benilde, Entrepreneurs School of Asia, Far Eastern University, and defending champion University of the Philippines-Diliman in Group A, Ateneo swept through their way with a clean 5-0 slate in their elimination round assignments.

The Blue and White cruised through Benilde (11-6), San Beda (11-4), FEU (11-3), and ESA (11-3) before getting a relatively tough challenge against UPD (11-7) in a match that saw both teams enter their encounter with clean 4-0 slates.

Meanwhile, De La Salle University claimed top honors in Group B over the likes of University of Santo Tomas, University of Asia and the Pacific, University of the Philippines-Los Baños, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and Centro Escolar University.

La Salle only dropped a tough assignment against UA&P (10-11) in their second game, but claimed victories over UST (11-4), PUP (11-2), UPLB (10-9), and CEU (11-4) to top the group.

Despite UST tying with DLSU with identical 4-1 cards, the Green and White claimed the top spot via a winner-over-the-other tiebreaker.

For more information on the tournament, interested parties may contact event heads Sophie Nadine Servano at 0905 908 9236, Mela Abesamis at 0917 523 0277, or tournament director Kenneth Landicho at 0926 624 3734.

DAY 1 RESULTS:
8:00am
DLSU def. UST, 11-4
ADMU def. Benilde, 11-6
PUP def. UA&P, 11-8
UPD def. ESA, 11-0

9:00am
ADMU def. SBC, 11-4
UPD def. FEU, 11-3
UPLB def. CEU, 11-7

10:00am
UA&P def. DLSU, 11-10
UST def. PUP, 11-5
Benilde def. ESA, 11-0

11:00am
UA&P def. CEU, 11-9
ADMU def. FEU, 11-3
UST def. UPLB, 9-8
UPD def. SBC, 11-3

12:00pm
SBC def. Benilde, 11-4
DLSU def. PUP , 11-2
ESA def. FEU, 8-3

1:00pm
ADMU def. ESA, 11-3
PUP def. CEU, 11-6
UPD def. Benilde, 11-7
DLSU def. UPLB, 10-9

2:00pm
UST def. UA&P, 9-8
SBC def. FEU, 11-2

3:00pm
UPLB def. PUP, 11-5
DLSU def. CEU, 11-4
ADMU def. UPD, 11-7

4:00pm
UST def. CEU, 11-3
Benilde def. FEU, 11-8
SBC def. ESA, 8-4
UA&P def. UPLB, 11-9

STANDINGS:
GROUP A
ADMU 5-0
UPD 4-1
SBC 3-2
Benilde 2-3
ESA 1-4
FEU 0-5

GROUP B
DLSU 4-1
UST 4-1
UA&P 3-1
UPLB 2-3
PUP 2-3
CEU 0-5

UP Diliman set to defend crown in 12-team field

Twelve squads will vie for bragging rights in the 2013 National Ultimate Collegiate Championship (NUCC) starting on May 12 at the UP Diliman Sunken Garden.

Hosted by the University of the Philippines Diliman Ultimate Organization (UP DUO), this event backed by Gold’s Gym, Bobble, Coppertone, Wengman Sports Apparel, and FullCourtFresh.com will be the second staging of the largest collegiate level ultimate tournament in the country.

Led by defending champions University of the Philippines – Diliman, other participating squads in the tournament include De La Salle University, Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas, San Beda College, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, University of Asia and the Pacific, Entrepreneurs School of Asia, University of the Philippines – Los Baños, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University, and Centro Escolar University.

For more information on the tournament, interested parties may contact event heads Sophie Nadine Servano at 0905 908 9236, Mela Abesamis at 0917 523 0277, or tournament director Kenneth Landicho at 0926 624 3734.

FullCourtFresh.com is the official media partner of the 2nd National Ultimate Collegiate Championship.

Forrester leads Arellano past State U, San Sebastian deals Southwestern U’s fourth-straight setback

Ateneo guard Kiefer Ravena goes up against the defense of Letran’s Franz Dysam and Mark Cruz in their Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Premier Cup match on Monday. (FCF / Vyn Radovan)

Still smarting from their loss barely two days ago, Ateneo de Manila University bounces back in their 88-81 victory against debuting Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Monday’s 2013 Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Premier Cup at The Arena in San Juan.

Kiefer Ravena, who was held down to just seven points against UST on Saturday, vented his ire by tallying his season-best scoring output of 33, together with six rebounds and six assists. Chris Newsome tallied his third double-double of the tournament with 13 points and 10 rebounds in the match.

Former NCAA juniors MVP Rey Nambatac tallied 19 point in his collegiate debut, while Mark Cruz posted 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 steals in the loss that spoiled the debut of newly-installed head coach Caloy Garcia.

In the other Group A showdown, San Sebastian College-Recoletos kept guest squad Southwestern University winless via an 84-73 decision in the day’s opening match.

Jon Rebollos topped all scorers with 20, while rookie forward Leo De Vera added 18 points to the Stags’ cause.

The lone Group B match saw Arellano University surviving University of the Philippines’ last-ditch effort in the final two minutes and claim a 74-66 victory to remain unbeaten with a 2-0 slate.

Joseph Marata (19 points, 5-for-9 3-point FGs) narrowly outgunned his counterpart James Forrester (18 points, 6 rebounds) in the shootout, but the Chiefs got the all-important victory thanks to a third-quarter surge that secured the victory.

In the women’s showcase match, National University joins CEU at the top of the Group B table with a thrilling 83-78 overtime victory over Lyceum of the Philippines.

(FCF / Ken Koo)

The Philippines will make a repeat appearance at the AFC Challenge Cup, following a clean sweep of their Group E matches in the qualifying round.

Phil Younghusband scored the match-deciding goal in the 67th minute off a scramble in the box that led to a wide open shot from just seven feet from the goal. But despite a second yellow card shown at Phil during the 85th sent him to the dugout early, the feisty Azkals did not allow the full-strength Turkmenistan squad score a single point to end the match.

FCF lensman Ken Koo caught some of the highlights of the match, where the PHI XI finally got back at their Central Asian foes.

(FCF / Ken Koo)

In a bizarre night, where the floodlights suddenly died right during stoppage time of the first half and heavy rainfall prompted match officials to suspend play for an hour, the Philippines played one of their most dominant matches in the last 10 years in drubbing Cambodia.

FCF lensman Ken Koo was on the pitch during this historical night, where Phil Younghusband scored four goals including a rare “natural hat-trick” and Javier Patiño scores two goals in his first cap for the Azkals.

The UP Streetdance Club performs their title-winning routine in the UAAP Season 75 Streetdance Competition. (FCF /Roehl Niño Bautista)

University of the Philippines closed out their Season 75 campaign on a high note in Saturday’s UAAP Streetdance Competition as part of the athletic league’s closing ceremonies.

The UP Streetdance Club, scoring a 91.17 percent in their routine, upended two-time defending champions La Salle Dance Company-Street who only managed a score of 86.75 percent to finish in second place.

Season 76 hosts Adamson University, represented by AdU CAST, rounded out the podium finishers with a mark of 84.25 percent.