Action in the 39th Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association high school tournament heightens Monday (Feb. 9) with the lone quarterfinal playoff game in the Juniors Division between No. 2 seed Grace Christian College (4-3) and No. 7 seed and last-place St. Jude Catholic School (2-5) at the Uno Gym.

Friday night (Feb. 6), the Judenites forced a rubber match against Grace Christian in their quarterfinal series with a stunning 85-70 decision.

Hardworking Kim Lo, a 6-foot forward-center junior center, put together a monstrous performance, collecting 23 points, 17 rebounds, eight steals and four assists as St. Jude broke a five-game losing streak after a season-opening 68-67 win over St. Stephen’s High School.

Lo was ably supported by reed-thin guard Jason Ligad, who knocked in three three-pointers and 15 points, and big man Jan Ong, who had 10. Stocky guard Derrence Lam and center Perry Lee contributed nine markers apiece for the winners.

Lawrence Anthony Chua led four players in double figures for Grace, which has lost three of its last four assignments. Chua scored 19 points, followed by Christian So, 14, Justin Ngo, 13 (along with 12 rebounds), and Kerwin Tiu, 10.

In the other quarterfinal series Friday night, host and No. 3 seed Uno High School (5-3) edged out Hope Christian High School (2-6), 69-66, in their rubber match to advance to the semifinals against the winner of the Grace Christian vs. St. Jude series.

It was probably the most exciting and closest game played so far in the Tiong Lian tournament.

The halftime score was 30-all after Uno closed out the second quarter with 10 unanswered points. In the second half, there were six deadlocks (38-38, 44-44, 52 52, 55-55, 59-59 and 66-66, with 52.1 second left) produced and the biggest lead by either side was only five points (35-50 by Hope to start the third quarter and 64-59 by Uno at the 3:27 mark of the fourth quarter).

Hope guard Joshua Go forced a 66-66 deadlock with a long three-pointer from the right baseline. Then Hope missed a golden opportunity to go ahead when center Reuel Rabino missed a pair of free throws with a minute remaining.

With time down to 17.7 seconds, Uno went ahead, 68-66, when the team’s No. 1 scorer, Mark Ronald Chua, scored on an undergoal stab while drawing a foul.

Though he failed to complete the three-point play, Chua went 1-for-2 from the charity stripes with 11.1 ticks remaining to give the Uneans a 69-66 advantage.

Big man James Ko subsequently missed a potential game-tying trey as Hope joined Chiang Kai Shek College (which was ousted by St. Stephen’s HS, 69-58, in their quarterfinal game last Feb. 4) for an early vacation.

Chua finished with 35 points and 18 boards for Uno. Isaac Lim and Michael Reyes added 13 markers each for the Uneans, last year’s third-placers who are in the Final Four for the second consecutive year.

Hope Christian was led by Ko with three threes and 16 points. Alvin Monzon collected 14 points, 13 rebounds and five assists while Janrey Garrido had 13 markers for the losers.

It will be the semifinals on Wednesday night (Feb. 11), with the reigning Juniors Division champion Xavier School taking on No. 4 seed St. Stephen’s HS and Uno clashing with the winner of the Grace vs. St. Jude game Monday night.

The Golden Stallions, who finished the elimination round as the No. 1 seed and drew a quarterfinal bye with their 6-0 record, will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage against the Stephenians. The winner of the Grace vs. St. Jude game will also have the twie-to-beat edge over Uno in the semifinals.

Under the league’s unique format, the No. 7 seed needs only to win twice against the No. 2 seed to assume the only other available twice-to-beat advantage in the semis.

Should rubber matches in the semifinals be necessary, they will be held on Friday the 13th.