James Garrucho produced one of his fantastic flurries to get Badak X-treme right back in the do-or-die game, despite starting scoreless in the first half, as he drained crucial triples during the final frame to steal the momentum of the game, to the benefit of his team.
Garrucho had 13 points and was named Most Valuable Player of the game as his team beat Ultra in the finals game of the Fil-Sino 1st Accelara Basketball Cup 39-below category. Andrei Enad contributed 13 points, followed by Alton Muyco with 11, and Randy Colonia contributed 10.
Badak sank a total of thirteen triples in the game, making six in the third quarter, when they took a six point lead, as the game went into the final ten minutes with the score at 68-62.
Ultra 3 put up a good fight, but couldn’t keep it going. With a balanced effort on both ends, Badak had an answer nearly every time the Ultra threatened or made a big play. Feeling the championship vibe as the time slowly ran out, the eventual champs were fired up upon hearing the buzzer and they celebrated in white championship shirts as they made history as the first Accelera Champion in their category.
Harvey Eslawa led Ultra 3 with 17 points, Ojay Gumbao tallied 11, while Jai Arroyo and Kelvin Gatoc recorded 8 points apiece.*
