Davao Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Davao reign in PSL Mindanao Regional Finals

MANILA, Philippines – Davao Occidental, Misamis Oriental and Davao City ruled their respective divisions in the PSL Mindanao Regional Finals, while three other teams completed the cast of qualifiers who earned seats in the National Finals, which serves as a prelude to the first ever age-group tournaments for young Pinoy ballers here and overseas — the Global Championship Challenge.

The Malita Lions won the Battle of Davao as the representatives from Davao Occidental showed their ferocious form in outplaying Davao City-NTB Wolves, 84-70, to capture the PSL Regional Finals Born 2004 crown.

Davao Occidental led for the majority part of the game, flexing its muscles right from the get-go and slowly pulling away midway the first period and never looking back. 

George Diamante, playing the role as point-forward, set the tone for Davao Occidental as he facilitated with more precision and made everybody on the team look good.

An NCAA champion while playing for the Letran Squires, Diamante's all-around court vision rubbed off on the rest of the Lions, who simply ended with a flurry to cap a perfect campaign in the tournament and served strong warming to the opposition they're going to face in the National Finals, which will be held from June 7-11 in Quezon City.

Misamis Oriental completed its Cinderella Run in the PSL Mindanao Regional Finals, pulling off a come-from-behind 84-81 win over home team Tagum City, and bagged the championship in the Born 2006 division.

Just a few hours after scoring a huge upset win over Davao, Misamis Oriental faced another adversity by battling the host squad.

The visiting team was teetering on the brink of defeat as Tagum City was four minutes away from wrapping up the crown, leading by as many as nine points.

But Misamis Oriental willed itself to victory as the Prowell-sponsored squad clawed its way back in the game behind the late-game berserk of Michol Idulsa and Joseph Dumdum.

Idulsa hit two clutch treys that enabled Misamis Oriental to get back in the contest, his last trey shoving his team to within 78-79 with still 1:47 left.

A few minutes later, Misamis Oriental came up with a big steal and Idulsa capped his heroics with a basket coming off that heist and put his team on the driver's seat.

Extra Sideline of Davao City banked on its suffocating defense to regain composure in the second half against the Centurions of Cagayan de Oro and complete a perfect campaign on its way to ruling the Born 2008 Finals.

The representatives from Davao completed a six-game sweep capped by a 73-57 victory over the Centurions in the finals.

It was a game of momentum shift, particularly in the third period, when the centurions appeared to gain some semblance in their game after fighting back from a series of twin-digit deficits.

But Jostien Bandao, who hit two triples in the third period, coupled by the sticky defense that forced the Centurions in turning the ball over seven times, allowed Davao City to gain its second wind.

In the fourth, it was Jover Alverio who provided the spark with back-to-back fast break baskets, and Extra Sideline held steadier down the stretch. 

A putback by AJ Eurango with less than two minutes left proved to be the dagger basket for Davao, which finally took the fight out of its rival as it posted a 71-57 lead.