Shark retains crown, slams Welcoat in OT

Foiled in its sweep bid the last time out, Shark completed its title-retention campaign in the PBL Challenge Cup last night as it shackled and outsteadied Welcoat in overtime for a 64-58 victory before a big crowd at the Makati Coliseum.

Held to a see-saw battle in regulation and dragged into a gut-wrenching game in the extra period, the Power Boosters played with determination and character to withstand the rigors of a long drawn battle and wrap up their best-of-seven series at 4-1.

Warren Ybañez’s two foul shots late in overtime sealed the victory for the Power Boosters, who whooped it up in celebration after the win that erased the stigma of their humiliating 0-4 defeat to the Paintmasters in the Chairman’s Cup.

But it was defense that spelled the victory for Shark, which held Welcoat scoreless in the final two minutes of regulation and to just a three-pointer in 11 possessions in overtime to accomplish what it failed to do last Tuesday when it dropped a 47-66 loss in Game 4.

"We lost Game 4 because of lack of defense," said Shark coach Leo Austria. "This time, we won it through defense."

But it took Shark gutsy plays from Chester Tolomia and Rysal Castro coupled with a fine defensive game to completely silence the dreaded offensive threat of the Paintmasters in the extra period.

Tolomia, fouled from beyond the arc, canned in three charities to shove the Power Boosters to a 60-58 lead before Castro, displaying grace under pressure, put in another pair of baskets from the stripe to pad their lead.

The Paintmasters, with Ren-ren Ritualo failing to hit his mark in the face of the Power Boosters‘ resolute defense and Yancy de Ocampo struggling down low against Shark’s double, triple-teaming defense, never recovered from that big Shark blitz from the free throw line. They flubbed their three offensive thrusts, including a sloppy play involving Ritualo and Jojo Manalo.