MANILA – Philip Manalang won it for Basilan Steel as the team edged Nueva Ecija in overtime, 83-80, in the final of the Chooks-to-Go MPBL Invitational on Thursday night at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Manalang found himself wide open off his screen for Jaymar Gimpayan, and Michael Juico gave his inbound pass to Manalang for the go-ahead trey right at the final buzzer.
Manalang was named the Finals Most Valuable Player despite scoring his only points in the game with the game-winner.
The win capped a huge turnaround for the Steel franchise, which started 2021 on a sad note after they were barred from playing Game 3 of the long-postponed Southern Division Finals against Davao Occidental due to coronavirus disease 2019 cases inside the Subic bubble.
Basilan bounced back with a bang later in the year, first by becoming the inaugural Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup championship before ruling the inaugural FilBasket season also inside a bubble in Olongapo as AICC Manila.
But Basilan coach Jerson Cabiltes, who was later named the Ato Badolato Coach of the Year for leading the team to the MPBL title, said that this is the biggest prize.
"Talagang gusto naming makuha 'to dahil 'yun nga, nine months ago we were in this situation and hindi kami napagbigyan and then ito pala yung balik na biyaya sa amin ng Panginoon (We really wanted to win this because nine months ago we were in this situation and we were not allowed and then this is the blessing in return we got from God)," Cabiltes said.
Encho Serrano, Jay Collado, Michael Juico, and Jonathan Uyloan each scored 15 points for Basilan, which won PHP2 million for ruling the pre-Christmas event.
Tournament MVP Michael Mabulac led Nueva Ecija, which settled for a PHP500,000 runner-up prize, with 24 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Earlier in the day, Pasig turned up the notch in the second quarter and eventually sealed a 100-80 rout against Imus in the third-place game.
The Realtors began pulling away from the Bandera after the first 10 minutes of the game, dropping 30 second-quarter points to open a 53-41 cushion at halftime.
The lead further ballooned in the second half and eventually reached 31 points, 94-63, with 5:51 left in the fourth quarter.
Jeckster Apinan made 16 points, nine rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one block for Pasig, which took home PHP200,000 for the bronze medal finish even as the team redeemed itself from a heartbreaking semifinal defeat to Basilan the night before.
"After ng game siyempre masama 'yung loob namin, gusto rin naming pumasok ng finals (Of course we felt bad after the game. We wanted to enter the finals)," coach Bong de la Cruz said.
Team skipper Jeric Teng, who according to de la Cruz gave a pep talk to his comrades before the battle for third, added 14 points, eight rebounds, and five assists.
Genmar Bragais fired 23 markers, six boards, and two dimes for Imus, which missed Adi Santos due to a sprained ankle. (PNA)
