‘Sweet sweep’

IT’S mission accomplished for the Davao Occidental Tigers who was crowned champion of the Cocolife Pilipinas Super League (PSL) Powered By Smart 5G Pearl of the Orient Cup after sweeping their finals clash, 2-0, via a 76-62 win over the Cagayan de Oro (CDO) Higalas in Game 2 at the University of Southeastern Philippines (Usep) Gym in Davao City late Monday evening, April 25, 2022.

The Tigers earlier routed the Higalas, 95-59, in Game 1 held at the Manuel Roxas Sports Complex on April 22, 2022.

The Arvin Bonleon-coached Tigers received a P2 million cash prize and a huge golden champion trophy while the Edgardo Dacoco-mentored Higalas settled for the P1 million runner-up prize.

Veteran Emmanuel Calo, who steered the Tiger's victory with 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three steals, and two blocks, was teary-eyed when he received the finals most valuable player (MVP) award.

"Dako kaayo akong kalipay nga nag-champion na gyud mi diri sa Davao home court kay dati na-short man mi ato (I'm overjoyed that we finally became champions in our Davao home court because we fell short before)," Calo said in a post-game interview.

Although they were not expecting to sweep the series, he said they were all raring to win the title.

Calo added, "Ang amo lang mudaug gyud mi. Nalamangan man mi gamay sa Higalas sa third quarter pero wala man mi ato naguol kay taas pa man pud ang oras. Basta gihatag lang namo ang tanan aron makuha namo ang kadaugan (We were aiming to win the championship. The Higalas grabbed a slim lead in the third quarter but we were not fazed since there was ample time. We just did everything we can to claim the victory)."

He also thanked the Tigers fans from Davao City, and Malita and Sta. Maria, Davao Occidental who came to cheer for them as well as the rest of the fans who watched via live streaming.

Calo averaged 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and 3.5 steals per game.

His teammates Robby Celiz and Gabriel Dagangon chipped in 15 and 14 points, respectively, while Ubalde led the Higalas with 19 points.

Dagangon was hailed as conference MVP, while Dabawenyo Bonleon was named best coach.

The Higalas snatched a lead for the first time, 50-49, with three minutes and seven seconds left in the third behind Ubalde's heroics and needed support from Ronnel Jay Lastimosa (12 points) and Red Louis Cachuela (12 points). But the more experienced Tigers bounced back in no time after a series of lead changes ensued between both teams.

PSL Chief Executive Officer Dinko Bautista, in a separate interview, said: "The PSL has been a huge success not because we won but because we have built more relationships with sponsors and partners. We have so much in store, we might explore different sports, different divisions. We already have our under-21 underway."

He said, however, that details of the under-21 league are still being finalized.