By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The AICC Manila basketball squad was crowned as the kings of the FilBasket Season I after outlasting the tough San Juan Go for Gold team during the win-or-go-home game three, 72-68, held at the Subic Bay Gymnasium.
Formerly the Basilan Steel Peace Riders, the AICC Manila grabbed their second tournament championship in a row after topping the last leg of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas VisMin Super Cup.
Unlike their grand finals matchup in VisMin, the AICC team had a tough competition against former MPBL champion San Juan that dragged their series until a deciding Game 3.
San Juan grabbed the game opener, 80-74, led by PH collegiate stalwart Rhenz Abando and several holdovers from the MPBL championship team.
AICC bounced back in the next meeting with a 74-70 win behind a terrific performance from former PBA scorer Ronjay Buenafe.
“Yung mga back-to-back games, pinaghandaan na namin sa practices. Yung pinaka challenge namin is yung nadown kami versus San Juan. Fortunately, for us, nakuha naming,” said AICC head coach Jerson Cabiltes.
It was an ideal start for the Manila team during the rubber match as they led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter.
However, the firepower of San Juan once again clicked down the stretch after trimming the deficit to just two, 70-68, off big baskets from Jhonard Clarito.
With time on their side, AICC chose to delay the game that led to Buenafe’s trip to the charity stripe and sealed the win and the trophy with his two free throws.
