THE 12-under and Juniors championship games of the Mondes Cup 12th Filipino Chinese Alliance Basketball League produced mixed results with one erstwhile unblemished team unable to handle prosperity and falling by the wayside and another squad keeping its slate immaculate en route to a second straight title.
In the 12-under finals, MGC New Life Christian Academy brought down top-seeded Philippine Institute of Quezon City with a come-from-behind 47-45 win to snare the crown.
Down 45-44, stout-hearted Ryan Chua overcame stomach flu that somehow made him appear to be lethargic to bury a booming 3-ball from the right corner with 12.18 seconds remaining for the New Lifers’ only lead in the second half that turned out to be the game winner as well.
PIQC, which lost for the first time in five appearances, had led by as much as 11 points, 35-24, late in the third frame before Chua took matters into his own hands, knocking in his team’s final eight points, including a pair of three triples.
Overall, Chua made three treys and totaled 24 points (all in the final three quarters) and 10 rebounds off the bench for a double-double. For his heroics, he copped the Most Valuable Player award and was named to the tournament’s five-man Mythical Team.
Jace Hao, Chua’s teammate and co-Mythical team selection, contributed 10 markers and eight boards.
Put to waste was Hsin-Hsien Kuo’s 26-point, 18-rebound, three-assist performance for PIQC, which crushed MGC NLCA, 55-38, during its elimination-round encounter.
In the Juniors Division, Philippine Chen Kuang High School retained its crown with an 86-78 victory over Philippine Sun Yat Sen High School in the finals. The Huskies capped their season with a perfect 7-0 record in the one-month competitions supported by Edmond Lim of Mondes Hair Color, New Spec Computer, Planet General Merchandise, Jumbolita Homeware, Catstar Suspension Parts, Surer, Arrowband Aluminum, Nash Coffee, Rspec Automatic Brake, Xarion, Godspeed Sports and Proline Sports Center, the local distributor of Spalding, the twin tournaments’ official basketball.
Chen Kuang trailed by as much as 13 points (36-23 and 38-25) in the second quarter but caught fire with a 15-0 blast midway through the third frame to turn the tables around and grab a 53-46 advantage.
PCKHS never trailed again thereafter. PSYSHS, however, fought back mightily from a 74-60 deficit with 6:39 left to come within five points twice, the last at 83-78.
Any further uprising in the final 1.5 minutes was aborted when Carl Chan split his free throws and Paolo Lu had an inside stab to cement the Huskies’ victory and preserve their lily-white ledger.
Chan wound up with 26 points (including 16 in the momentum-altering third quarter) and six steals for Chen Kuang, which also got 20 points and 14 boards from former Nazareth School of National University Bullpups member Joshua Jugar, and 16 points and eight steals from flashy playmaker Nestor Cyrus Ramos.
Brothers Paolo (12) and Don Antonio Lu (11) also netted double-digit scores. The younger 6-foot-4 Anton also grabbed 15 rebounds and blocked five enemy missiles and earned tournament MVP honors with averages of 12.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 3 spg and 2.71 bpg.
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