CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Team Dedication showed its wares and handled Team Passion, 98-89, in the Division II All-Star Game in the 2019 NBTC National Finals Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
Mctroi Crisostomo led the way for Dedication with 17 points and six rebounds while Jeric Palma and Michael Homo added 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Dedication, who controlled the match for much of the second half, held an 84-76 lead midway through the fourth quarter but Passion cut that deficit to half, 90-86, after Ken Laquibla’s free throw with 2:44 remaining.
Cholo Anonuevo, though, regained normalcy for Dedication with his dunk giving the boys in white a 92-86 lead and that was the spark of a 6-0 run for his team.
Lloyd Barbe’s putback capped the scoring spurt for Dedication’s 96-86 lead with 1:05 to play.
“I tell them that they should improve everyday, hone their skills, listen more, keep learning, and never stop studying,” said Dedication head coach Dylan Ababou in Filipino.
Crisostomo and Passion’s Harvey Sanchez both expressed their delight in playing in the All-Star game and learning from Ababou and Paul Desiderio, who called the shots for Passion.
“I’m happy that he was my coach because I learned a lot from them,” said Crisostomo in Filipino.
“I feel blessed because I fulfilled my dreams and my sacrifices resulted in something,” said Sanchez in Filipino. “And coach Paul is my idol.”
Desiderio, who also played in the NBTC before and is now with Blackwater in the PBA, admitted that coaching was a new avenue for him and that it wasn’t as easy as it looks.
“This is my first time being a coach and it was one big headache,” said Desiderio laughing. “This is where I started, and I’m happy that I got to give them advice and I reminded them that we had the same journey. I also started in the province.”
Desiderio, who hails from Cebu, played in the NBTC in 2013.