With burly Jay-R Taganas powering his way underneath for 11 points, the San Beda cagers thwarted Visayas champions West Negros College, 17-14, to capture the seniors crown and the top P10,000 cash prize plus P20,000 worth of gift package from the sponsoring adidas.
The HAU cagebelles, on the other hand, pulled off a cliffhanger of a win over a tough University of Mindanao side, 16-15, to pocket the girls diadem in the two-day finals co-presented by Globe Gentxt. The Luzon champions, who also nipped the UM bets in their pre-final match, 13-12, Saturday, likewise won P10,000 in cash and P20,000 worth of adidas gift certificates.
San Beda, the NCR champion, and Holy Angel U, which topped the Luzon regional finals, thus advanced to the sixth adidas Asian Streetball Finals, featuring the best 3-on-3 teams in the region, slated Sept. 2-4 at the Araneta Coliseum.
Leann Mary Ramirez fired 11 points while Kathrina Reyes and Margot Osio tossed in three and two points, respectively, for HAU, which got a big lift from the ouster of fancied NCR champion UP-Diliman by also-ran University of San Carlos-Visayas earlier in the day.
But the Pampanga bets had to go through some anxious moments before disposing of the stubborn UM cagebelles in the 20-minute encounter for the one-point victory that earned the team a crack at the prestigious Asian crown in the event backed by McDonald’s, Cherifer Multivitamins, Snickers chocolate bar, Coppertone, adidas fragrance and body care, Blue Angel alcohol, Milo, Powerade, Viva Mineral Water, adidas eyewear and Yehey.com.
Taganas proved unstoppable inside, running rings around his defender and banging away baskets that saw San Beda break away from a tight 11-all contest in the last five minutes of play. His unmolested lay-up under the basket in the last 12 seconds sealed the win for the Mendiola-based cagers, who played without top gun Rogemar Menor throughout the finals.
But John Carlos Hermida Jr. and Eduardo Tecson Jr. and Taganas proved up to task as they played with lots of guts while overcoming the rigors of playing without relief in a highly-physical final series. Tecson finished with four points while Hermida had two.
It was actually a revenge of sort for San Beda, which dropped a close 16-15 decision to West Negros College in their pre-final game Saturday.