Far Eastern University-Diliman and National University-Nazareth School emerged victorious by defeating University of Santo Tomas in the boys’ and girls’ divisions, respectively, of the UAAP Season 86 High School 3×3 Tournament on Sunday at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay.
The Baby Tamaraws prevailed 17-15 over the Tiger Cubs in the boys’ final while a three-woman Junior Lady Bullpups overcame the Junior Tigresses 21-14 to annex the championship in the girls’ competition.
To get to their respective finals, FEU-D eased past De La Salle Zobel 21-12 while NUNS and UST finished in the top two places at the end of the elimination round.
(C) Yvan Martinez and
Patrick Pampilon/UAAP Season 86 Media Team
“Unang-una masaya kasi last playing years ko na and last game ko na to sa high school,” said boys’ Most Valuable Player awardee Veejay Pre. “Nabigay ko yung gusto kong mabigay sa FEU na mag-champion. Inuwi namin tong championship na to para sa FEU.”
(C) Yvan Martinez and
Patrick Pampilon/UAAP Season 86 Media Team
“Sobrang happy and greatful po ako siyempre dahil nakabawi po kami sa UST,” said girls’ MVP winner Cielo Pagdulagan. “Yung goal po namin is manalo sa championship — lalong-lalo para sa coach po namin si coach Camila Escoto dahil grabe yung effort niya ipag-ensayo kami at ganun din yung buong team.”
Pre, who powered FEU-D with 11 points and nine rebounds, converted a crucial basket inside the pain to give the Baby Tamaraws a 15-12 cushion with 2:20 remaining in the contest.
Amid the deficit, JB Lim and Carl Manding brought UST within 14-16 as they scored a point each with Jedric Daa answering back with a basket of his own in between them.
Lim then missed a crucial shot and the Tiger Cubs were forced to foul Dwyne Miranda, who converted a free throw.
Koji Buenaflor then brought UST closer to 17-15, but FEU-D held on take the gold.
Also part of the Baby Tamaraws team are Dwyne Miranda, Jedric Daa, and Jiro Mecha.
Lim scored 12 points while Buenaflor seized 10 rebounds to go along with his two points for UST.
“Siyempre, very proud of the players that played throughout the tournament,” said FEU-D coach Mau Belen. “Kudos also to the FEU program for providing or maglabas ng mga ganitong talent from their pool.
“Just wanna thank the FEU management for trusting us for training these guys for almost two months for them to play the best 3×3 game they could para ito yung maging resulta,” she added.
(C) Yvan Martinez and
Patrick Pampilon/UAAP Season 86 Media Team
For the girls’ division final, Pagdulagan led the Junior Lady Bullpups with 10 points.
To win the crown, Pagdulagan converted three baskets while Nicole Pring sank two deuces and Alicia Villanueva nailed the winning basket to turn around an 11-12 deficit with 3:47 left in the clock to make it 21-14 with 39 seconds left on the timer in favor of NUNS.
BJ Villarin did not play in the final due to injury.
Karylle Sierba led the Junior Growling Tigresses with 10 points.
“Now that the UAAP is already including 3×3 Girls as a regular event, this is another milestone and success at the same time for girls and women’s basketball,” said NUNS coach Camilla Escoto. “And that’s what we are more happy about —more competitive tournaments that we can look forward to.”
This is the first time FEU-D and NUNS officially won the boys’ and girls’ titles as their triumphs back in Season 85 were achieved when the competitions were still demonstration events in the UAAP.
The third-place games saw Adamson University and De La Salle Zobel exchange wins in the two divisions.
The Baby Falcons defeated the Junior Archers 15-13 to get the bronze in the boys’ tournament.
On the other hand, the Junior Lady Archers prevailed 18-10 at the expense of the Baby Falcons to get the podium finish in the girls’ competition.
(C) Yvan Martinez and
Patrick Pampilon/UAAP Season 86 Media Team
University of the Philippines Integrated School’s Ethan Egea was crowned as the Rookie of the Year.
The Scores:
Boys’ Final:
FEU-D 17 — Pre 11, Miranda 3, Daa 2, Mecha 1.
UST 15 — Lim 12, Buenaflor 2, Manding 1, Bucsit 0.
Girls’ Final:
NUNS 21 — Pagdulagan 10, Pring 7, Villanueva 4.
UST 14 — Sierba 10, Relliquette 3, Dajao 1.
Boys’ Third Place Game:
ADU 15 — Esperanza 9, Medina 4, Sajili 2, Abayon 0.
DLSZ 13 — Daja 6, Dimaano 5, Arejola 1, Lopez 1.
Girls’ Third Place Game:
DLSZ 18 — De Luna 7, Udal 6, Soriano 4, Cordero 1.
Adamson 10 — Delos Santos 4, Triambulo 3, Ruiz 3.
Boys’ Semifinal 1:
FEU 21 — Pre 11, Daa 8, Miranda 2, Mecha 0.
DLSZ 12 — Daja 5, Dimaano 4, Lopez 2, Arejola 1.
Boys’ Semifinal 2
UST 18 — Lim 12, Manding 3, Bucsit 2, Buenaflor 1.
Adamson 17 — Medina 7, Esperanza 6, Sajili 3, Abayon 1
