SUCCESSFUL comebacks from a huge deficit in the payoff quarter of a 40-minute basketball game (for high school or college tournament governed by FIBA rules) or even a 48-minute contest can be spine-tingling and heart-stopping.
A cardiac finish it tends to be, as one local basketball television broadcaster patented to describe a game that is closely fought at crunch time.
To mount a rally from a huge deficit and subsequently succeed at the final buzzer takes a lot of courage, which renowned American novelist Ernest Hemingway defined as “grace under pressure” in his famous book “The Old Man and the Sea.”
It can only happen to a team with a lot of heart – likened to “the heart of a champion” – with its never-say-die spirit.
Last Christmas Day, I was a witness to a playoff game in a professional league wherein one team fell behind by at least 18 points with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter but came back to force a five-minute overtime (it could have actually won in regulation time if only one player from the comebacking team not muffed an easy layup in the final seconds with the score deadlocked) and eventually won over its “sister” squad (both pro teams have the same ownership group).
History repeats itself but so swiftly it happened again.
Last Sunday (January 31), I personally witnessed a high school basketball game in the 3rd Philippine Ching Yuen Athletic Association (PCYAA) competitions at the Uno High School gym where one team rallied from a huge deficit with little time left to come up with an improbable escape act and preserve its unblemished win-loss record.
Philippine Cultural College (PCC) scored a stunning come-from-behind 69-67 victory over Jubilee Christian Academy (JCA) after overcoming a 16-point (62-46) deficit with 4.5 minutes remaining in the game.
With Kyle Barraza lighting up the scoreboards all night – he finished with a tournament high-tying 33 points – JCA seemingly headed for its second straight win in six outings as it had led from the get-go (a 13-0 start), enjoyed a lead of as much as 18 points twice (43-25 with five minutes left in the third canto on Barraza’s third and final triple) and was still in control with a 16-point advantage with more than half of the fourth period gone.
Instead it was PCC that staged a monstrous comeback. Down by 16, 62-46, at the 4.5-minutes mark, the Seagulls mesmerized their foes to commit numerous turnovers with their suffocating pressure defense and clustered 15 consecutive points from Jharles Uy (eight), Rafael Pangilinan (three), Kimson Chen (two) and beanpole Daniel Manalang (two) to come within one, 62-61, with 2.5 minutes left.
Burly Lanz Tan, who finished with a 20-20 with 21 points and 22 rebounds, restored JCA’s lead to three, 64-61. Manalang retaliated with a bucket, and following a Barraza free throw for a 65-63 JCA lead, Chen drained the second of his three triples as the Seagulls were on the driver’s seat for the first time, 66-65, with 1:08 remaining.
JCA quickly regained the upperhand (67-66) on two charities by Tan at the 30.9-second mark. PCC’s John Patrick Garcia split his twin throws from the foul line as the score was deadlocked for the first time at 67-all.
Then came Chen’s heroics that spurred the Seagulls to a sixth straight victory (without a defeat). With 10.8 ticks left, the gangling Chen stole the rock and completed it with a layup that gave PCC the lead for only the second time at 69-67.
It turned out to be the game-clincher. Barraza was fouled on his three-point attempt with 1.6 seconds left. Under tremendous pressure, Barraza, who also moonlights as a swimmer on the PH national team, muffed his first two free-throw tries then purposely misfired on the third to no avail as time ran out.
PCC got 16 points and 10 rebounds from Chen and 13 points and five steals from Uy.
The Seagulls look to complete a seven-game sweep of the elimination phase against winless Saint Peter the Apostle School (0-6) on Sunday (February 7) and will enter the eight-team quarterfinal playoffs with a twice-to-beat advantage against the No. 8 seed, which likely will be the SPAS Peterians themselves.
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