Alliana’s clinches B League champs

It was a hard-fought finals matchup, but Alliana’s came from behind with a few clutch plays in the last minutes of the game to win the championship of the Pacific Saipan Inc. Promo Invitational Basketball League.

Alliana’s was down by double digits at one point, but with a bit of luck, perseverance, and a never-give-up attitude, they rallied in the final minutes and won the title against Team Legends, 63-59, last Wednesday night at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court.

Both teams were exhausted heading into the fourth quarter as Alliana’s fought tooth and nail to get within at least 1 point from the Legends. Reprieve came later with 3:30 left, as J.R. Alcantara evened up the game, 54-54.

It was crunch time for both teams as Legends tried to fan the flames from a suddenly hot Alliana’s offense. Legends missed a few opportunities to overtake the lead once again and before they knew it, Alliana’s had a 2-point lead, 56-54.

It was deadlocked once again, 57-57, with 49 seconds left, and the game could’ve gone to any team at that point, but Alliana’s Jomar Tengco was the saving grace as he threw a Hail Mary from the 3-point line and made it in for a 60-57 lead.

The court and Alliana’s bench exploded into cheers as Alliana’s breathed a sigh of relief to have the upper hand once and for all.

Legends were gassed out as they tried their best to catch up, but could only score 2 more points off free throws. Tengco put in one free throw for good measure and Alcantara added two more before time expired for a 63-59 final count.

Alliana’s leading scorers were Alcantara with 23, Jobert Meriales with 19, and Richard Mendoza who scored 13. For the Legends, Alken Ege scored 16, Jimboy Tabora had 13 markers, and Jun Tabora contributed 10.

Third place went to the Guardians after they beat Bourbon Bar & Cafe, 81-65, earlier in the evening.

After the awards ceremony that followed the finals, Alliana’s coach/player Mark Matuguina said that he told their team to “give it all they can” in the last quarter. He saw that Legends were tired and told them to go man-to-man defense and just give it all they got.

He said in the game, they were down by 14 points at one point, then trimmed the deficit down to 3 points. By then, he told the team to “settle down, but put on the tension. They knew it was a crucial game.”

Matugiuna said the team’s head coach, Ohlan Tengco, couldn’t make it to the finals because he was actually on the way to Saipan from the Philippines the next day. Matuguina then thanked the tourney’s commissioner, Sonny Ebuen, and the rest of the committee for the league that allowed “regular basketball players” to join and play.

Alliana’s 63 — Alcantara 23, Meriales 19, Mendoza 13, Tengco 6, Leightly 2.

Legends 59 — Ege 16, Jimboy Tabora 13, Jun Tabora 10, Zapata 8, Tibayan 7, P. Tabora 5.

Scoring by quarters: 17-21, 26-30, 37-48, 63-59.