West steals win with clutch charities

MANILA, Philippines - St. Benilde’s Jonathan Grey buried two clutch triples in a seven-second span and Letran’s Mark Cruz hit two pressure-packed free throws with a fraction of a second left as Team West eked out a come-from-behind 89-88 victory over East to rule the NCAA All-Star Game at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

Down, 81-88, with 28.5 seconds to go, the West team went to Grey, who responded with back-to-back triples, the first on the 21.3-second mark and the other with 14.9 seconds to go as they pulled within one, 87-88.

Then Cruz, who earlier topped the three-point shootout, came through with a steal off a poor East inbound play and drew a foul from San Sebastian’s Jamil Ortuoste at midcourt as he heaved a devil-may-care shot with 0.2 second left.

Cruz sank the first two then intentionally missed the third to seal the stirring win.

West thus leveled its head-to-head series with East, which ruled last year’s inaugurals, 104-97.

Earlier, Lyceum’s Jebb Bulawan sailed over two teammates then jammed in a two-handed slam to beat St. Benilde’s Mustapha Yankie Haruna in the dunk-off to claim the NCAA All-Star slam dunk title.

After ending up tied in the finals at 29, Bulawan jumped over fellow Pirates Joseph Gabayni and Shaq Alanes and completed it with a two-handed jam, drawing three perfect 10s from the judges.

The 22-year-old Sorsogon native then watched Haruna miss three attempts, including a between-the-legs dunk off a pass by teammate Travis Jonson, to clinch a career-first dunk title.

Cruz, meanwhile, bested Lyceum’s Wilson Baltazar, 18-9, in the three-point shootout finals to capture the crown.

Lyra Velchez, meanwhile, gave Perpetual Help its second Ms. NCAA title after besting nine other rivals.

The scores:

West 89 – Grey 20, cruz 10, Oraeme 10, Gabayni 8, Mejos 8, Munsayac 7, Nambatac 6, Alanes 4, Ongteco 4, Baltazar 3, Saavedra 3, Racal 2, Onwubere 2, Serrano 2, Nieles 0

East 88 – Teodoro 17, Jalalon 12, Akhuetie 10, Guinto 10, Ylagan 6, dela Cruz 6, Calisaan 6, Koga 5, Ortuoste 5, Salado 4, Sorela 4, Dela Paz 2, Abdul Wahab 1, Nicholls 0, Dagangon 0

Quarterscores: 19-14, 41-38, 59-63, 89-88