Wildcats stun Kings for crown

THE University of Mindanao (UM) Wildcats stunned Jose Maria College (JMC) Kings, 84-82, to win 12th Araw ng Digos Inter-Collegiate Basketball Tournament crown Saturday evening at the Digos City Gym.

The Kings set the pace early as they applied tough defense on the Wildcats opening up a 14-point lead, 44-30, coming in to halftime.

The Wildcats continued to struggle down the stretch as they still trailed by 14, 76-62, midway in the fourth.

But, just when the Kings seemed to put the game out of reach, the Wildcats pulled off a surging 14-4 rally late in the final period to keep themselves within striking distance.

The game then came down the wire and was decided by a buzzer-beating fast break conversion from UM's Stan Apurada, who won the game for the Wildcats off a turnover by JMC's Bob Ombecan.

With the win, the Wildcats also earned for themselves P50,000.

Kings head coach Nick Serafica, in a phone conversation with Sun.Star Davao, expressed his frustration with the defeat.

"I thought we were already be the champions since we had a huge lead and the momentum was on our side," Serafica said in the vernacular.

He said his players were supposed to handle the late game pressure since they are already have the experience.

"It is back to square one for us as we will spend most of our time practicing and playing tune-up games with tough teams," he said.

The Agro Industrial Foundation College of the Philippines (AIFCP) Sailors settled for third place after winning via forfeiture over the Ama Computer College.

The tournament was presented by the City Government of Digos as part of its cityhood celebration.