There has been no shortage of down-the-wire games in the 91st NCAA basketball tournament. The midseason All-Star showcase followed the trend.
St. Benilde’s Jonathan Grey delivered down the stretch as West pulled off an incredible rally in the last 25.8 seconds to complete an 89-88 triumph over the East at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Finding his stride late in the game, Grey knocked in two triples in a seven-second span to finish with 20 points, before Letran’s Mark Cruz buried two free throws with less than a second remaining as the West tied their head-to-head series with East at one-game apiece.
Bulawan, Cruz top side events
Earlier, Lyceum’s Jebb Bulawan ruled the dunk competition while Cruz bested a strong field to rule the three point shootout.
Atoning for his poor performance last year, Bulawan dazzled the crowd by dunking over two teammates to beat St. Benilde’s Mustapha Yankie Haruna in a dunk-off.
The two players finished with scores of 29 after two rounds, before Bulawan nailed a dunk over fellow Pirates Joseph Gabayni and Shaq Alanes to claim three perfect 10s from the judges.
Haruna missed all of his three attempts in the dunk off allowing Bulawan to claim the title.
Bulawan entered the finals after dunking on a sitting Gabayni for 29 points while Haruna jumped over a standing JR Ongteco to forge a dunkoff.
“I knew I would need to have a more difficult dunk to beat him (Haruna). I’m glad I did,” he said.
Cruz was on fire in the first round, tallying 26 points. But he also had enough to best Lyceum’s Wilson Baltazar, 18-9, in the finals for the title. Baltazar fired 22 in the elimination round.
The scores:
WEST 89—Grey 20, Cruz 10, Oraeme 10, Gabayni 8, Mejos 8, Munsayac 7, Nambatac 6, Alanes 4, Ongteco 4, Baltazar 3, Saavedra 3, Racal 2, Onwubere 2, Serrano 2, Nieles 0
EAST 88—Teodoro 17, Jalalon 12, Akhuetie 10, Guinto 10, Ylagan 6, dela Cruz 6, Calisaan 6, Koga 5, Ortuoste 5, Salado 4, Sorela 4, Dela Paz 2, Abdul Wahab 1, Nicholls 0, Dagangon 0
Quarters: 19-14, 41-38, 59-63, 89-88