Blue Dragons slay Sea Lions, capture UCBL diadem

MANILA, Philippines — Outnumbered in crowd support but never in heart, Diliman College displayed steely nerves at endgame as it crushed Olivarez College, 63-57, to claim the Universities and Colleges Basketball League Season 3 crown at its opponent’s homecourt yesterday.

Rookie Kevine Gandjeto, who hails from Benin, bucked fever as he imposed his presence at the paint, scoring on a layup and a dunk in the Blue Dragons’ 6-0 closing tear to break the hearts of the Sea Lions  faithful at the Olivarez College Gym while sending the handful of blue-clad supporters celebrating with the team at centercourt.

The Blue Dragons of owner former Sen. Nikki Coseteng seized the opener, 80-71, last Monday but fumbled in the second, 73-81, last Thursday before regrouping to prevail in the best-of-three series.

“I bring back all the glory to God. Pagpasok ng game na ‘to, blangkung-blangko na ako. Wala na akong maibigay na instructions sa players. I just kept surrendering to Him what will happen in this game,” said Diliman College coach Rensy Bajar. 

“Good thing my players responded kasi kahapon sa practice talagang ubus na ubos na kami. ‘Yung determination, hardwork, teamwork at slogan namin na ‘Team First Before Myself,’ ‘yun ang nagbigay motivation sa amin down the stretch,” he added.

A layup by the 21-year-old Gandjeto at the 1:27 mark of the fourth quarter shattered a 57-all standoff then Joseph Brutas scored on a drive to stretch the Diliman College lead to four, 61-57, silencing Olivarez College’s legions of fans while cheers of “Blue Dragons!” reverberated in the gymnasium.

Hopes went up for the Sea Lions as Brutas erred on an inbound violation, but Lawrence Castro bungled his three-point attempt for Olivarez College with 20.9 seconds remaining.

An emphatic slam by Gandjeto at the 10.6 mark sealed it for the Blue Dragons even as he flubbed his subsequent trips to the line in the dying seconds.

“‘Yung puso talaga na gustong manalo at gustong manalo para sa team. ‘Yun ang lumabas sa game na ‘to,” added Bajar.

Gandjeto was barely rested as he led the way with 14 points, 14 boards, three steals, three blocks and an assist in a little more than 37 minutes on the floor. Brutas also came through with 14 points, while Johnnel Bauzon scored 11. 

John Mahari chipped in seven points and was named Finals Most Valuable Player.

Mythical Five member Robbi Darang, nursing a minor knee injury since Game One, had four points in 12 minutes and 36 seconds of play.

Olivarez College drew 14 points from Joshua Almajeda and 12 from Mavrick Saguiguit in the down-the-wire battle.

The scores: 

Diliman 63 – Brutas 14, Gandjeto 14, Bauzon 11, Mahari 7, Enriquez 6, Darang 4, Salazar E. 4, Coquia 3, Salazar J. 0,  Ligon 0.

Olivarez  57 – Almajeda 14, Saguiguit 12, Elie 9, Lalata 8, Castro 6, Begaso 4, Udoba 2, Sala 2, Completo 0, De Leon 0. 

Quarterscores: 15-15, 32-28, 41-45, 63-57