Cinderella is Actually Good in Using the Broom

It looked the SBC Red Lions were well on their way to force a Game 3 in the NCAA finals as they led the Golden Stags by 10 at halftime. The Lions were playing terrific defense forcing the Stags to take ill-advised shots. They were running and converting on fastbreak plays and the Stags fell into their trap and ran with them. Jimbo was held to 1 point without any field goals in the 1st half and Mythical 5 member Calvin Abueva was saddled with 3 fouls and had only 1 point and 0 rebounds on his stat line in the 1st half. Garvo Lanete scored a total of 11 points (identical to his production in the 1st half of Game 1) on a couple of transition plays and outside shots. Jay-R Taganas was back occupying space and his heft helped Beda neutralize Abueva. The Stags' plays looked predictable. Ato Agustin was mad with his players for playing one-on-one too much. It looked like a typical best of 3 finals series wherein the Game 1 loser(Lions) was able to adjust and put on a beat down on the Game 1 winner(Stags).

The Stags were expected to let the Lions eat them alive in the 2nd half but they weren't ready to give up just yet. Gilbert Bulawan was the lone bright spot in the 1st half for the Stags and he continued to carry the load early in the 3rd quarter. Ronald Pascual came in the game and hit a couple of jumpers that helped push Baste back in the game. Suddenly, SSC-R was executing better and the SBC was not able to run. The Lions were coughing up a lot of TOs and it allowed the Stags to grab the lead 54-50 but it was the Stags' TOs that gave the Bedans the lead back 56-54 at the end of the 3rd.

Jimbo Aquino then returned to his old form and an unleashed 5-0 run to start the 4th. Jimbo then knocked down a dagger 3-pointer to give the Stags a 66-58 lead right after a small altercation with Bambam Gamalinda. Calvin Abueva returned with 6+ minutes to go but he was no longer needed as the Stags were able to establish a double-digit lead already. Even injuries to Aquino and Bulawan were not able to give the Lions a chance to come back in the game. The Lions did not hit a single FG and were able to manage to score only 5 points in the 4th. It also did not help their cause that Hermida was taken out of the game in the 4th (He bled right above his eye when he was inadvertently hit by Pamboy Raymundo's shoulder). The Lions were not able to recover from the run unleashed by Jimbo and the rest of the Stags. They just looked lost and helpless as they saw the Stags celebrating their eventual win, 76-61.

None of the Lions stepped up to save the day for Frankie Lim. Garvo Lanete tried his best but it's clear that he still can't take over the shoes left by the likes of Pong Escobal, Yousif Aljamal and Ogie Menor. JR Tecscon had his moments as he scored 5 of his 10 points in the 3rd but couldn't do much more to help the team. Sudan only made his 1st FG with only less than minute left in the 3rd. His physical gifts should have allowed him to control the paint especially with Calvin Abueva sitting on the bench with foul trouble. In his defense, Frankie did go away from Sudan (just like how I suggested) in his offensive sets and concentrated more on his other guys but his other guys did not come to play a championship game. Graduating players Bambam Gamalinda, Jay-R Taganas, Chico Tirona combined for only 4 points. Their other rookie sensation, Rome Dela Rosa, scored only 2 points and still could not buy a basket from the outside. It was evident that SBC was going to lose if SSC-R was able to find a way to slow down the tempo. Most of Lions' players are very effective in the open court but can not find a way to score in half court sets.

I'm going to to join the Ronald Pascual bandwagon. The guy can just jump. He hit a couple of crucial jumpers in the 3rd that proved to be crucial in their comeback run. His leaping ability made it difficult for the Lions to contest his shots. The guy can also finish on a break and can rebound. The only knock on him is his age. I'm not sure if he should really be called a rookie. It was Finals MVP, Jimbo Aquino who carried this team in the 2nd half but credit should also be given to Bulawan. The guy carried this team when Jimbo and Calvin were nowhere to be found. What about Del Rio taking a page from Eric Salamat's book and giving the Beda crowd a couple of salutes? (Like he did something to contribute for their Game 2 win. Haha) Jimbo truly deserves this MVP award. Jimbo's 3 pointers in the 2nd half were not good shots but the important thing is he made them. Great players just show up in big games. He wasn't able to win this year's season MVP but I'm sure John Wilson is willing to trade trophies. Pamboy Raymundo was also a key ingredient of this championship run by the Stags. He's not going to score a lot of points but he has done such a good job in setting up his teammates for easy shots. A lot of credit should also go to the Atom Bomb, Coach Ato Agustin for not only for coaching the team but also for assembling it. He sure did found a couple gems in the Pinatubo twins (Pascual and Abeuva), Eric Gatchalian and Ian Sangalang.

And as they say Bravo Baste!

(I got the title from Butch Maniego. He compared the Stags to Cinderella for their Cinderella story this season and he pointed out the Cinderella was known to be good in using the broom. In this case for the Stags, they did a pretty good job sweeping the heavily-favored SBC Red Lions.)