DEFENDING champion Holy Trinity College (HTC) of General Santos City and last year's runner-up Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC) Crusaders resume their rivalry as they battle for the 2018 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) National Collegiate Championship Mindanao Qualifying crown as of Monday.
The HTC claimed the top spot of the four-team single round-robin elimination with a clean 3-0 win-loss card while HCDC recorded 2-1. The latter absorbed a heartbreaking 74-76 loss at the hands of HTC, which relied on its size and heft.
The General Santos City-based HTC also routed Southern City College of Zamboanga, 88-69, before whipping Professional World Academy of Misamis, 73-59.
The Crusaders, coached by Isaias Gravador, Jr., grabbed back-to-back wins over PWA (81-61) and SCC (84-68) to recover from its first game loss.
Gravador, in a Facebook interview with VoxPop Davao, said they only lost by one point in their Mindanao finals encounter last year.
He, however, does not discount the possibility of another close match in the 2018 edition of the league.
"It would still boil down with experience and breaks of the game. Their team is intact while I have rookies this year as the other regulars already graduated. Mero malay mo, matyambahan (We could pull off a surpise)," Gravador said, adding that HTC's size strength can dominate the rebounding department that could pave way for easy baskets.
Thus, he said, "We have to take care of our transition defense and make the outside shots if we want to have a chance of winning the game."
