Damie Cuntapay (Photo courtesy of AsiaBasket)
MANILA – San Beda-Machateam and Kuala Lumpur will face off in the AsiaBasket International Championship finals after ruling their semifinal contests on Sunday night at the MABA Stadium in the Malaysian capital.
San Beda-Machateam first booked a seat in the championship game after edging Harimau Malaysia, 83-72.
San Beda-Machateam used a 22-4 run late in the second quarter to take a 41-39 lead at halftime before pulling away midway through the fourth quarter with an 18-2 run for an 83-66 cushion.
Yukien Andrada led San Beda-Machateam with 23 points, 12 rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Jacob Cortez added 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals, while Jomel Puno chipped in 10 points, three rebounds, one assist, and three steals.
Ting Chun Hong led Harimau Malaysia with 24 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block.
In the nightcap, KL prevailed despite a late scare from the College of St. Benilde (CSB) for a 90-87 win.
The Aseel were comfortably ahead, 80-67, with 7:04 remaining, but the Blazers went on a 16-0 run to take an 83-80 lead with two and a half minutes left.
KL answered with an 8-0 run which included Tan Wei Long’s go-ahead three and clutch free throws from Louie Sangalang and Soong Kah An for an 88-83 cushion with 10 seconds left.
The Blazers still gave the Aseel a scare as Migs Oczon converted a four-point play with 4.2 seconds left that cut the lead to just one, 88-87.
Jalen Robinson, who was struggling from the free throw line all game long, made two charities off a quick foul to put KL ahead by three with 3.5 seconds left.
Oczon tried to send the game to overtime, but his highly contested three-pointer only hit the backboard as time expired.
Robinson led the Aseel with 29 points, 21 rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and two steals while bucking an error-prone game where he committed seven turnovers.
Sangalang added 20 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and one block, while Wee Yong Gan put up 15 points, three rebounds, one assist, and two steals.
Miggy Corteza led the Blazers, who missed out on forcing an all-National Collegiate Athletic Association finale, with 24 points, six rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and one steal.
Harimau Malaysia and CSB will first meet on Tuesday night at 5 p.m. in the battle for third before KL and San Beda-Machateam slug it out for the championship at 7:30 p.m.
In between the games, the AsiaBasket will name the All-Tournament Team while the Most Valuable Player will be revealed after the final.
Box Scores:
First Game
San Beda-Machateam 83 – Andrada 23, Cortez 13, Puno 10, Cuntapay 9, Tagle 9, Alfaro 7, Payosing 5, Jopia 4, Cometa 3, Visser 0, Gallego 0, Royo 0
Harimau Malaysia 72 – Ting 24, Mahadevan 10, Kuek 9, Ooi 8, Lee 5, Heng 5, Y. Wong 3, J. Wong 3, Dee 2, Liew 2, Lim 1, Ong 0
Quarterscores: 17-23, 41-39, 65-60, 83-72
Second Game
Kuala Lumpur 90 – Robinson 29, Sangalang 20, Wee 15, W. Tan 9, Gan 8, Soong 7, Yap 2, G. Tan 0, Kwan 0
CSB 87 – Corteza 24, Oczon 18, Carlos 16, Turco 15, Nayve 4, Marcos 2, Marasigan 2, Cajucom 2, Sangco 2, Liwag 2, Jarque 0, Mara 0
Quarterscores: 24-22, 43-39, 72-63, 90-87 (PNA)
