THE Philippine Women's College (PWC) Patriots players and coaches were seen hugging each other and jumping with joy after the final buzzer sounded, as they captured their first ever Dacs Sportsfest 2019 college men's basketball gold medal by beating Cor Jesu College (CJC) of Digos, 95-84, in the rubber match of their best-of-three finals Sunday, October 6, at the Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC) Gym.
CJC took a two-point edge, 24-22, at the end of the first period but PWC tightened its defense to snatch a 48-39 advantage at the break.
Patriots coach Joselito Celis, in a text interview with SunStar Davao Monday, October 7, said: "Nag all the way mi og full court. Ginapadeny nako ilang pag receive sa bola sa ilang shooters. History jud ni para sa school (We went all the way in our full court press. We denied their shooters possession of the ball. This win is a record first for the school)."
Joshua Cerbas erupted with 27 points and teammates Josua Lacadon added 15 markers to lift the Patriots' milestone triumph.
Their defense, according to him, played a vital role in their Game 3 win, adding that he kept reminding his players that they could not be wrong with defense.
"Offense wins games but defense wins championship, mao na akong ginabalik-balik sa ilaha (That's what I keep telling them)," he said.
He cited CJC players were very physical and had the size, making it challenging for the Patriots to sweep the series in just two games.
It can be recalled that PWC took the first game, 74-56, but CJC leveled the series by bouncing back with a 68-60 win in the second game.
He also said, "It's the fruit of our labor, tanan sacrifice namo pagmata og sayo, hard ang praktis daily nasuklian aning daug. Nakuha namo ang championship (The fruits of our labor, our sacrifices in waking up early and training hard daily reaped results. We won the championship at last)."