Grace Christian College defeated St. Peter the Apostle School, 73-52, to retain its 45-and-above division title via a two-game sweep in the Fil-Chinese Athletic Association Inc. Basketball Tournament on Monday at the Tanduay Gym in Quiapo, Manila.
The Danny Ching-mentored Graceans wasted no time asserting their dominance, racing to an 18-8 lead in the first quarter before practically sealing the victory by halftime with a commanding 36-16 advantage.
Building on their dominant 89-52 victory in the opening game of the best-of-three championship series, the Mintex- and Fullercon-backed GCC relied on a balanced offensive attack to join the James Yap-led Hua Siong College of Iloilo as the league’s back-to-back champions.
Hua Siong College earlier defended its 40-and-above division title by defeating Xavier School, while Hope Christian High School made history by winning the inaugural 35-and-above and 50-and-above division crowns.
Allan Anson Tan and Albert Edsel Chua led GCC with 13 and 12 points, respectively, while William Tan and Jeffrey Vincent Chua chipped in 11 points each to highlight the team’s dominant performance.
GCC’s title run was supported by Smart Sports, Tanduay Athletics, Genius Hardware, Ultraforce Tires, Cellboy, PGFlex Linoleum, Boysen, Lamtex Pipes, Jiang Nan, Hangry Pares, Powerhouse Tools, L.F. Fireworks, BYD Valenzuela, BAIC, Jetour, Yong Kee Roasting House, 1118 Autospa, and TCL.
Albert Edsel Chua was named Finals MVP after tallying 10 assists and one rebound in 20 minutes of action. However, no GCC player earned a spot on the Mythical First Team.
Kerby Chua of SPAS claimed the season MVP award and headlined the Mythical First Team alongside Henry Inductivo, McRobert Dytiandu, Reagan Lim, and Joseph So.
With Kerby Chua unavailable due to a prior commitment, Richy Chan and Adrianne Wong paced SPAS with nine and eight points, respectively.
FCAAI chairman Wilbert Loa led the awarding ceremony, presenting the championship trophy and medals to the winning school and the tournament’s top individual awardees.
