MANILA, Philippines -- The Zamboanga Valientes were crowned The Asian Tournament grand champions after obliterating the Macau Black Bears, 81-65, Saturday in Zamboanga City.
Rickey Bryce Jr. paced Zamboanga with a huge performance of 25 points and 10 rebounds, to go with two blocks and a steal.
This was enough for him to get the Finals Most Valuable Player nod.
DeMarcus Cousins stuffed the statsheet with 21 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and two blocks.
Cousins led the charge in the final quarter to keep the Black Bears at bay.
The lead grew to as much as 20 points, 81-61, with a Cousins slam with less than two minutes remaining for the dagger.
"Until now I still can't believe we won. I'm so happy. This was really our dream because in the second leg, we reached the semifinals, and in the third leg, we made it to the finals but couldn't win,” Zamboanga Valientes head coach Bobidick Delos Santos said after the game.
“We gave everything we had in this final leg to achieve our goal for Zamboanga. Thank God we were fortunate enough to win."
The Valientes went unbeaten in the preliminary phase, before smothering the Naic Aces in the semifinal.
This then brought them to the finals of the final leg of the tourney.
Damian Chong Qui led the way for Macau with 24 points and seven assists, while Mohamed Kone and Tyrone Nesby IV added 19 and 16 markers, respectively.
Team captain Rudy Lingganay said the experience of an NBA-caliber play spelled the difference in the game.
“He was the one who spoke during halftime. Macau was leading, and he talked to each of us. He spoke with Bryce. After that, we came out strong.”