MANILA, Philippines -- After 31 years, the UAAP juniors’ basketball title is back in San Marcelino.
The Adamson Baby Falcons clinched their first championship since 1993 after completely obliterating the National University-Nazareth School Bullpups, 90-73, in the winner-take-all Game 3 Sunday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
After trailing by as much as 15, 32-17, in the first half, the Bullpups stormed back and cut the lead to just four, 49-45, in the third quarter.
Adamson unleashed a run of their own, taking back a nine point lead, 62-53, heading into the final quarter.
The Baby Falcons then clamped down on defense and out hustled the Bullpups, not allowing them to score for more than four minutes.
They turned the nine-point lead to a 24-point cushion, 77-53, with 5:56 remaining after a 3-pointer by Earl Medina, who was struggling almost the whole game.
Mac-mac Alfanta then hit a layup with 5:40 remaining to stop the furious run.
Alfanta tried to tow the Bullpups back with timely shots, cutting the lead to 20, 79-59.
However, Medina put on the finishing touches with a 3-pointer and a rim-grazing dunk to put the game completely out of reach with about three minutes remaining, 86-59.
JC Bonzalida and Tebol Garcia led the Baby Falcons with 15 markers each. They led the five Baby Falcons who scored in double digits.
Backstopping Bonzalida and Garcia were Mark Esperanza, Allen Perez and Vince Reyes, who had 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Season MVP Collins Akowe spearheaded the Bullpups in the losing effort, finishing with 18 points, 13 rebounds and three assists, but he struggled mightily from the field, making just six of his 17 attempts.
Alfanta added 16 markers.
It was a wire-to-wire affair for Adamson, with their lead growing to as much as 29 points.
The Baby Falcons had 27 points off 21 turnovers of the Bullpups.
They also dominated in the paint, scoring 56 points in the shaded area off of 28/41 shooting.
“It’s happy to get the crown again for the San Marcelino school. We worked hard for it,” Adamson head coach Mike Fermin said after the win.