Today’s Games: Battle for 3rd Game 3: Luke (1-1) vs Mark (1-1) Championship Series Game 3: Matthew (1-1) vs John (1-1) Mark’s furious late rally in Game 3 secured 3rd place GBBC, May 10, 2022. Ponciano Tan made sure that Mark went home as victors tonight as he carried Mark offensively to secure the 3rd place of the 1st PBA basketball tournament. Game 1 was a straight up blowout. In game 2, we saw 2 veterans carry their team to victory. After the first two games of exhilarating individual performances, the final game for the battle for third continued the same theme. Two of the top players of the tournament went head to head, point per point as they look to salvage their team’s respective seasons with a 3rd place finish. Mark and Luke almost battled to a draw as no team controlled much of the game. Both teams struggled for a while to get their footing offensively. The first half saw a back and forth affair as the defense of both teams clicked to choke away some of the easy baskets for each team’s respective superstars. Players had to get creative to score every basket. The 1st half ended with Mark leading by a precarious 3 point lead, 35-32. Ponciano Tan led the team with 15 points while Mario Gayeta of Luke led all scorers with 16 points. Familiarity seems to kick in as playing the same team multiple times in the same season seems to immunize both teams on the other team’s game plan. The 2nd half continued the back and forth as almost every basket was answered on the very next play. The game was almost played into a stalemate even at the waning minutes. When the game plan is already thrown out the window, teams tend to go to their superstars to bring them home. As if on cue, MVP frontrunners Gayeta and Tan displayed a one on one battle reminiscent of Paul Pierce and Lebron James during the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers playoff series back in 2010. With the game tied and 3 minutes remaining to determine the winner, both players showed up and scored some more buckets. They went point for point to break the deadlock and gain control of the game. In the end, Tan won the player battle as well as the team tussle. Tan was just too much for Luke as he poured in a point shy of 50 to add another dazzling performance to his growing collection of offensive masterpieces. His performance tonight usurped his previous tournament high of 48 set last March 1, 2022 against Matthew. Gayeta of the red team went berserk for 42 points of his own. He was aided by spitfire guard Lloyd Duga-duga with 16 and 12 markers from Mariano Gayeta. Tan had more help as stalwarts Gerald Gabriel, Axcel Quisimundo and big man Ezekiel Aguinaldo all scored in double digits for the orange team. Mark finished in 3rd place while Luke settled for 4th. Both teams have a lot to be proud of as they showed their tough mettle and love for the game as they poured their hearts out on the court in every game. Kudos to Mark and Luke! Scores: Half scores: 35-32, 83-73 Mark 83 - 49 Ponciano Tan, 11 Gerald Gabriel, 11 Ezekiel Aguinaldo, 10 Axcel Quisimundo, 2 Marlito Gotonero, 0 Jake Pagatpat Luke 73 - 42 Mario Gayeta, 16 Lloyd Duga-duga, 12 Mariano Gayeta, 3 Gabriel Tanyag, 0 Ben Gayeta Matthew completes Cinderella run to grab inaugural PBA championship GBBC, May 10, 2022. It took another extension but Matthew completed their seething run to win the inaugural PBA championship. Matthew would not mind an overtime period or another heart stopping game. A slow start to the season watered down the expectations. A 2-4 win loss record finish to the regular season did not give them any advantage or momentum heading into the playoffs. But Matthew never doubted themselves and were keen to disregard the expectations along the way. Tonight was a culmination of weeks of hardships, retooling, disappointments and victories. They can now call themselves the first ever Pastor Boy Aguinaldo basketball champions. Game 3 started the same way the last game began. Matthew immediately imposed their will as they broke an early deadlock to establish an early lead that they would not surrender for almost the entire game. Both teams employed tough defense fitting of a championship series. However, Matthew found more openings on the offensive end as John failed to hold the defensive fort for the entirety of the possessions. The first half ended with Matthew leading by 8 points, 36-28. The Tank Vic Lardizabal led the scoring with 10 points. Forward Jeff Alquizar followed suit and scored 7 points as well. On the other hand, Raph Pacheco continued his hot scoring from the past few weeks with 10 points at the half. MVP frontrunner AC Gonzales struggled with the physical defense as he scored a measly 6 points. Fellow MVP frontrunner and top scorer Aaron Roblo of Matthew also continued to struggle as he finished the half with 7 points. John started to fix their porous defense after the 1st half horn sounded. Early in the half, they were able to string consecutive defensive stops coupled with offensive conversions to keep pace. They were able to cut the lead but Matthew stormed back to mount another double digit lead. Another flurry from John was successful this time as they were able to tie the game late in the 2nd half. The momentum shifted heavily to the black and gold team as Matthew lost Roblo in foul trouble late in the game. A couple of defensive stops and baskets from Pacheco and Gonzales gave John a 1 point lead. With less than a minute to go, A missed shot was rebounded by Pacheco and his put back gave John a 3 point lead. Lardizabal answered with 2 free throws while Gonzales split his charity stripes. Lardizabal was fouled on the ensuing play and calmly sent the game to overtime via 2 ice cold free throws. Matthew went straight to work to start the overtime period sensing their best chance to win the championship. Shifty guard Lunie Sebial led the charge as he constantly terrorized the defense with his daredevil drives. John tried another comeback bid but they were eventually outworked and outrebounded late in the game as Matthew eventually preserved the lead and won the game and the championship. Sebial led Matthew with 27 points through his drives and trips to the free throw line, producing his best game of the tournament. Lardizabal contributed 24 points for the eventual champions. Roblo and Alquizar added 14 and 12 points respectively. Pacheco led all scorers with 32 points, a career high, for the valiant effort of John. Gonzales dominated the 2nd half as he finished with 29 points for the runner ups. Congratulations to John for a steady season marked by consistent performances and excellent team work. The season belongs to Matthew as they easily shattered the norms of a regular basketball tournament. They never settled down even if they took the longest route. To upset a mighty Luke team while on a twice to beat disadvantage was already impressive. But to take an equally great John team to the distance of the finals and winning it all was the cherry on top of the come from behind story of this ever resilient green team. Congratulations, champs! Scores: Half scores: 36-28, 66-66, (OT) 81-76 Matthew 81 - 27 Lunie Sebial, 24 Vic Lardizabal, 14 Aaron Roblo, 12 Jeff Alquizar, 2 Edison Maminta, 2 Honorio Gayeta, 0 Kyle Lardizabal John 76 - 32 Raph Pacheco, 29 AC Gonzales, 5 Ryan Malupa, 4 Rey Malupa, 2 Orly Malupa, 2 Apollos Aguinaldo, 2 Jenzhel Sanchez, 0 Kevin Sanchez 1ST PBA SEASON IN REVIEW
Top Scorers of the Regular Season
Top Scorers of the Playoffs
Mythical Four Aaron Roblo (Matthew) Vic Lardizabal (Matthew) Ponciano Tan (Mark) Mario Gayeta (Luke) Defensive Player of the Year: Lloyd Duga-duga (Luke) Season MVP: AC Gonzales (John) Finals MVP: Lunie Sebial (Matthew) Congratulations to all players for a successful and entertaining 1st PBA basketball season. To God be the glory! /written by: Kevin Sanchez /photos by: Chloe Aguinaldo /published by: Em Gacad
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