Franco Nube 
Samar State University’s hot win-streak continued as they sent the Eastern Visayas State University Eagles packing (79 – 67), dominating both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor throughout the game to give the defending champs a bitter end to their EVCAA run after the match, held at Tacloban City Astrodome earlier this evening.
AJ Tolipas was hailed player of the game as he put up 21 points, 7 dimes, and 11 boards to help the Deer in dethroning the eagles, not allowing EVSU to send the semis to a do-or-die situation as the SSU holds a twice-to-beat advantage for the semifinals round.
SSU Deer struggled to control the pace of the ball game during the first quarter, bad shot choices and sloppy turnovers from the Deer allowed the EVSU Eagles to take a narrow lead by end of the initial quarter with a score of 16-19.
A calmer SSU team stepped onto the hardwood by the start of the second quarter, taking control of the offensive boards paired with a better defensive strategy that forced the Eagles to commit turnovers, allowed the Deer to overcome their 3-point deficit and ended the half with a double-figure lead, 43-33.
The defensive prowess of the SSU Deer resulted in their 12 steals in the first half doubling the 6 steals of EVSU, forcing the Eagles to 18 crucial turnovers which led them trailing behind the Deer by the end of the 1st half of the game.
Dominance of the SSU Deer continued early on by the start of the third quarter, forcing the Eagles to take an early time-out after a 6-0 run by SSU; consecutive turn-overs by the Eagles and the run-and-gun offense of the Deer resulted to a swollen 16-point lead (63 – 47) for the Deer by the end of the 3rd quarter.
The last and final quarter showed an all-out effort from the EVSU Eagles, as they tried to turn the tables around and snatch a win from the Deer, their efforts fell short, however, as the SSU Deer guarded their lead for the whole duration of the 4th quarter, ending the game with a 12-point lead, 79-67.
A three-game finals between SSU Deer and SLSU Kingfishers will be held to crown the champions of EVCAA 2023 next weekend at Tacloban City Astrodome.
This will be a rematch between the two teams after they controversially ended the recent SCUAA 8 Games as co-champions.
