Unleashing an impressive dribble package and stingy defense, La Salle’s Jordan Bartlett went undefeated the whole tournament and toppled the much taller Kobe Paras of University of the Philippines, 11-8, in the finals to become the first UAAP Last One Standing champion at the SM Mall of Asia Atrium.
Bartlet took advantage of a visibly-fatigued Paras, who competed won the dunk contest just minutes before the finals. The transferee from NU drilled four shots from long distance en route to scoring 11 points and stopping the game with 1:38 left on the clock.
Bartlett locked down Ateneo’s Quinito Banzon in the semifinals, taking a 3-0 lead off a flurry of dribble moves to the basket within the first three minutes.
Banzon nearly sued for a comeback, drilling a contested two-pointer to come within one, 5-4 with less the 20 seconds left. The Blue Eagle, however, failed on a last ditch attempt from beyond the arc to steal the win.
Paras then outmuscled NU rookie Robert John Minerva.
The Gilas Pilipinas prospect drove hard to the basket each opportunity he got, leading to and-1 opportunities and causing Minerva to exhaust his five-foul limit. Paras eventually shot two charities every time he stepped on the line which buoyed him to become the first player to reach 11 points before the five-minute game clock expired.
