MAGIS EAGLES FALTER IN SM-NBTC FINAL

Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles put up gallant fight but in the end, bowed to a hardened San Beda in the SM-NBTC championship

There was no repeat of the 2015 national championship for the Cebuanos as the San Beda College Red Cubs made sure they will not collapse on the final half as they schooled the Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu Magis Eagles with a 79-61 victory to win the Division 1 SM-NBTC League National Championship title at the Mall of Asia Arena yesterday.

San Beda lost to the Magis Eagles in the 2015 National Finals and was again denied last year by the National University Bulldogs in the championship match.

The Magis Eagles had a fluid offense and defense in the first half, but they failed to sustain their game in the second half, while the Red Cubs started hitting their outside shots, while dominating the rebound department, while the SHS-AdC self-destructed after committing a string of turnovers.

SHS-AdC had their best chance as they held San Beda to a low scoring first half that saw seven deadlocks and five lead changes.

However, after a brief seesaw battle of the lead and the last deadlock at 34-all, the Magis Eagles' game started to spiral down as tournament Most Outstanding Player awardee Evan Nelle started his outside shots and Sam Abu Hijleh made his presence inside the paint felt by the Cebuano squads.

Aside from Nelle, Luke Sese, Cebuano Ain Obenza, Peter Alfaro also made their shots and basketball seems too easy for the Red Cubs the rest of the way.

San Beda had a 74-50 lead before SHS-AdC finally broke the ice as they made a quick 9-0 run, but it did not matter as time was no longer on their side.

As consolation for the Magis Eagles, three of its players were named into the Mythical 5 Team – point guard Travis Mantua, forward Errol Pastor and guard Andrew Velasco. San Beda's Nelle and Alfaro completed the cast of top performing players.

Nelle scored 18 points, Alfaro had 15 and Prince Etrata and Abu Hijleh both had 10 points for San Beda. Abu Hijleh added 11 rebounds to the credit while Mantua scored 14 points and Velasco and Pastor each had 13 points for SHSAdC. Pastor also had 116 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Assumption Montessori School Jaguars of Cagayan de Oro City bagged the Division 2 title after beating the St. Jude College Knights of North Cavite, 72-71.

Romel Calahat was the top producer for the Jaguars with 20 points and 15 rebounds, with Rome Mutya and Nilo Janao each making 19 points. Victor Buraga scored 17, while Rey De Quiros added 16 for the Knights.

In the Division All-Star Game, the North team, that is coached by Jong Uichico lorded it over the South Team of Josh Reyes, 94-89.

Highlighting the final day of action was the victory of professional dunker David Carlos, who brought the house down with his gravity- defying dunks that earned him a perfect 50 points score in the three rounds.

“Just continue to remind guys that we’ve been in a little bit of a rut. The only way to change that is to grind yourself out, grind your way out of it. Like I said, it’s not going to be pretty. The shots just aren’t going to fall. That’s just the way the game works. You don’t go into a rut and then come out and hit 20 3s. It just don’t work like that.” DRAYMOND GREEN