Letran-Manila and Durham Crossover-Toronto emerged victorious to earn the first tickets to the Fantastic 8 of Division 1 in the 2019 Chooks-to-Go NBTC League National Finals presented by SM, Wednesday at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The 8-seed Squires opened Day Three with a big 60-57 come-from-behind win over 9-seed Hope Christian-Manila behind the efforts of John Tabajen, whose relentless effort allowed them to fight back from a 12-point first-half deficit.
Tabajen’s putback in the final minute sealed the victory as he finished with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds in the Supreme 16 of the national championship for high school.
Andrei Romenez topped Letran with 14 points and three rebounds, while CJ Saure got 13 points and 12 boards. Shawn Umali scored 10 points and hauled down 16 rebounds in the win.
It was a tough defeat for the Soldiers, who lost four-time NBTC All-Star and top gun Harvey Pagsanjan with three minutes remaining after his second unsportsmanlike foul, ending his day with a statline of 19 points and five rebounds.
Durham Crossover, meanwhile, progressed to its first Fantastic 8 berth with a 109-75 trouncing of Sta. Clarita International-Iloilo to end the 26-seed’s Cinderella run.
Tyler Garcia poured 32 points for 10-seed Toronto as Marc Casilla added 17 points and seven rebounds.
Steven Tono poured 28 points in a gallant stand by the Iloilo squad.
Meanwhile, at Palm Coast Marina, Sto. Domingo National HS-Legazpi held off Narvacan National HS-Candon, 72-62, even as First City Providential College -Bulacan blasted University of San Jose-Recoletos -Cebu, 75-50, to be the first teams to advance to the Division 2 Fantastic 8.
Big matchups are still in slate at SM Mall of Asia Arena, with the Jalen Green-led FilAm Sports-USA taking on Kai Sotto and the rest of the Ateneo-Quezon City serving as the marquee matchup at 5 p.m.
UAAP titlist NU-Manila also continues its path to back-to-back NBTC titles when it faces Calayan Educational Foundation-Quezon at 2 p.m., followed by NCAA champion Mapua-Manila bracing for contender FEU-Manila at 3:30 p.m.
The week-long tourney is still free of admission, with fans needing just a valid ID to enter SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The tournament is sponsored by Chooks-to-Go, Darlington-Exped Socks, EPSON, Huawei, Freego, Purefoods, Gatorade, Go for Gold, SM, Molten, and presented by 5Plus and Lighthouse Events.
