St. Clare completed a 14-game sweep right on its very first stint, scoring a 70-66 squeaker over Philippine Merchant Marine School Wednesday for the National Capital Region Athletic Association men’s basketball title at Makati Coliseum.
Veteran guard Marte Gil canned a three-pointer in the final 12.5 seconds to ensure the victory for the Saints who swept the 12-game elimination and the best-of-three final series against the Mariners.
“It’s a very humbling experience for us, we played here for the first time hoping to finish decently but in the end we dominated it,” said St. Clare president Dr. Ernest Jay Adalem.
Coach Jinno Manansala leaned on forward Jayson Ibay and Gil in the last 32.6 seconds after PMMS enforcer Robin Villamayor knotted the count at 66-66.
The Saints downed the Mariners, 70-53, last Tuesday in Game 1. In the women’s side, La Salle-Dasmariñas defeated Rizal Technological University, 57-55, to take the title.
The 6-foot-5 Ibay finished with 24 points and ran away with the Most Valuable Player award. Mark Dulalia added 17, while Elmer Managuelod finished with 11 points for the Saints.
Assisting Jinno at the bench were team manager Rex Manansala and the mentor’s father, former PBA star Jimmy Manansala.