MANILA, Philippines—Mark Nonoy took the torch and led Team Hustle past Team Heart, 94-86, coming away with clutch shot after clutch shot in the Division I All-Star game of the 2019 NBTC National Finals Saturday at Mall of Asia Arena.
With the spotlight firmly shining on Kai Sotto and Jalen Green, Nonoy shone brighter than anyone in the field when he lit up in the fourth quarter scoring 14 straight points to finish with a game-high 23 points.
Nonoy, who played for UST high school, went on a personal 14-6 run to give Team Hustle to an 89-82 lead after a booming three-pointer against two defenders with 34.7 seconds left.
Green answered back with a quick dunk but time wasn’t on Team Heart’s side.
“When he started going, I told coach Alex [Cabagnot] that we want the ball in Mark’s hands to make the decisions, and be aggressive,” said Team Hustle head coach Chris Gavina. “He hit that big three and I just looked at Alex and I was like ‘good call.’”
RJ Abarrientos added 13 points and eight boards for Team Hustle while Sotto was limited to six points, on 1-of-6 shooting, but grabbed 10 rebounds.
Green had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Team Heart while Kai Ballungay had 16 points.