By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Hear your Lions roar!
It feels like it’s 2022 once again as the Central Philippine University (CPU) Golden Lions successfully defended their JB Amateur Basketball League (JB ABL) School Wars college varsity championship title on March 26, 2024, at the Angelicum School of Iloilo basketball gym.
Unlike their previous championship run where they held a twice-to-beat advantage after sweeping the elimination round without a single loss, the Golden Lions had a tougher road to gold this 2024 season after they ground their way out of the preliminaries to formalize their seat to the finals.
Facing a revamped and stacked Iloilo Doctor’s College (IDC) Medics tertiary hoops squad, the Golden Lions trailed early in the first quarter as the challengers were able to create separation with their tremendous ball movement which resulted in several open shots in the shaded lane.
However, in the last three minutes of the first, the Golden Lions were able to claw their way back and avoided a double-digit deficit after the insertion of star center Jesse Sullano who acted as the stabilizer for CPU.
IDC continued to run their set plays in the second quarter and maintained their lead but the Golden Lions always had answers offensively, thanks to the efficient scoring of Wilmer Dalumpines who kept them afloat.
Just when the Medics thought they could replicate their first-quarter performance, the Golden Lions had other plans and took advantage of their small ball lineup in the third quarter.
With their frontcourt in foul trouble, the Golden Lions deployed a different unit at the start of the second half which paid off dividends.
Aside from a much-faster attack, the Golden Lions received a huge lift from superstar ball handler Kevin Barranco who was limited in terms of points in the first half after getting hounded by foul trouble.
CPU’s resurgence helped them stretch their lead to 12 points after the third quarter, 62-50, and were already oozing with confidence when the fourth canto began.
The Golden Lions kicked off the final frame with a quick offensive barrage from Barranco but IDC came back in the ball game and trimmed their deficit to just six points midway through the quarter.
When CPU needed a scoring avalanche to dispose IDC, the trio of Barranco, Dalumpines and Sullano answered the call and steered them to a composed fourth-quarter performance.
With the huge win, the Golden Lions just won its second straight JB ABL School Wars college varsity title and will have the chance for a Grand Slam if they win the next conference.
Dalumpines was crowned as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) after a consistent two-way performance from start to finish.
“Congratulations to both schools, deserve gd ninyo ang spot sa finals. Happy that the college varsity category ended smoothly without any major injuries and gapasalamat gd ako sa tanan nga nag kadto sa Angelicum gym to witness a great game between CPU and IDC,” said founder and commissioner Jayphet Balbacal in an exclusive interview with the Daily Guardian.
