THE San Fernando Spartans banked on a strong third quarter and a few defensive stops late in the game to take the title in the 2nd Samsam Gullas Cup with a 64-62 nail-biter over the Minglanilla Archangels in Game 3 last Sunday in the jam-packed Minglanilla Sports Complex.
Trailing by nine points going into the second half, San Fernando sprang back to life in the third quarter by outscoring Minganilla, 25-13, and taking a 53-50 lead going into the last 10 minutes of the ballgame.
Minganilla, however, started the fourth quarter with a 5-2 swing from two charities, a technical free throw and a basket to tie the game at 55-55.
After trading baskets, Edriane Lasuña hit a three-pointer from the corner to give Miglanilla the lead, 60-59, with 6:18 remaining. San Fernando regained the lead two minutes later with a basket by Adriel Intong. But Clint Carl Basister answered with a mid-range jumper to give Minglanilla a one-point advantage, 62-61.
With less than a minute remaining, San Fernando made huge plays from both ends - a basket down low by Ronald Geraldino, for a 63-62 lead, and a steal by Jimwell Bolo, who was fouled on that same play and was sent to the line for two. He, however, split his charities for a 64-62 lead for San Fernando.
With 21.9 seconds left, Cristian Castro earned a couple of free throws after a foul by Geraldino. He missed both attempts and the ball went out of bounds going to San Fernando’s way after a fumbled offensive rebound by Minglanilla.
Mark Caparas, however, stole the ball and attempted a reverse layup that could have tied the game but Jhon Carl Soreso flew up and swatted the ball out of bounds with 14.4 seconds left.
Season MVP Steve Nash Enriquez inbounded the ball but his pass was stolen by Geraldino, who was sent to the line, with 9.3 seconds remaining. He made his first shot and missed his second but luckily, San Fernando grabbed the offensive rebound and held on to a close win.
Soreso led the Spartans with 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds along with a block. Bolo had an complete performance, that earned him player of the night, with 14 points, five boards, six assists and five steals. Jhonson Saramosing chipped in 10 points along with three steals, Geraldino also had 10 points, while Intong almost logged a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds along with a steal and two blocks.
“I told them to just play honest defense. From the very beginning up to the end I always told them to defend and play with teamwork,” said San Fernando head coach Mark Saramosing.
“It’s a great win. I can’t express how happy I am right now. We really did our best to become champions. This is the first championship for San Fernando ever since,” said Jhonson Saramosing, who was given the Finals MVP plum for averaging 20 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 3.0 steals and 3.0 blocks in the finals series.
Caparas led Minglanilla with 15 points, while Basister added 11. Christian Castro logged a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Season MVP Enriquez played a subpar game. He just tallied seven points along with six rebounds, three assists and a steal. In the season, he averaged 24.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 2.8 assists per game to take not only the MVP plum but also the Scoring Champion and Rookie of the Year awards.
“Regardless of whoever becomes the champion, we are very happy that a lot have supported our tournament. As you can see, this is a 10,000-seater complex, one of the biggest in the province, but it still got filled up, that alone makes me happy,” said Rep. Samsam Gullas. “The true success of the league doesn’t depend on who becomes champion, who becomes MVP, but on how many of these kids can be seen by schools, become under-trainees, varsity players, Team B players or reserves to get scholarships. How many kids will be picked up, that’s how I gauge the success of the league.”