CEBU, Philippines - Andres Paul Desiderio of the University of the Visayas (UV) Baby Lancers scored on a breakaway layup to steer the Light squad to a nerve-wracking 83-81 victory over the Dark side in the Seaoil National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) All-Star Game last Tuesday night at the City Sports Club-Cebu gym.
With the score tied at 81-all with only 22 ticks left in the gameclock, the Light stars made a crucial steal that set up the stage for Desiderio's heroics.
The Dark cagers still have a chance to steal the win or at least forge an overtime with five seconds to play, but an errant pass sealed their doom.
Desiderio charted a game-high 28 points to become the runaway choice as the Most Outstanding Player, a feat that earned him a slot to the National NBTC All-Star Games on March 3 in Manila.
Ralph Dinolan, also from UV, chipped in 19 points for Light followed by Fletcher Galvez of the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu with a dozen markers.
It was a sorry loss for Dark, which led by as much as 15 points, 46-31, with less than two minutes left before halftime. The 6-foot-3 Dolan Adlawan paced Dark with 24 points.
The scores
Light (83) - Desiderio 28, Dinolan 19, Galvez 12, Santillan 7, Igna 6, Competente 4, Osabel 2, Tan 2
Dark (81) - Adlawan 24, Balankig 9, Ochea 7, Jaboneta 6, Araw-araw 6, Berdera 6, Antigua 5, Bulan 5, Yap 4, Estremos 3, Senining 2, Zosa 2, Bolvar 2 Halftime: 39-49. (GGM)(FREEMAN)