MANILA – University of the East Junior Warriors clinched the UAAP Season 87 Junior High School Basketball crown with a 78-47 rout of the University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs in the do-or-die Game 3 of the Finals on Friday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Ilonggo Ethan Oraa spearheaded the offense with 13 points to go with three rebounds and two steals, while Enrico Bungar added 11 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals for UE.
Gab delos Reyes hauled 16 rebounds to go with six points, three assists, and three blocks to be named Finals MVP for the Junior Warriors, which wrapped up the best-of-three title series at 2-1.
The championship win of the Andrew Estrella-mentored Junior Warriors snapped their 39-year UAAP basketball championship drought across all divisions.
“That’s the motivation — to bring UE another championship,” Estrella said in a post-game interview. “As I’ve told them, huwag lang silang susuko.”
“After we won Game 2, I challenged my players to give their all. Ang dami na namin pinaghirapan, both in and out the court. Bakit pa namin ibibigay kung nandito na tayo?” he added.
From a 15-all score after the opening period, the Junior Warriors went on a huge 19-8 scoring blast in the second quarter to establish a 34-23 advantage at the half.
The lead grew further in the second half as the Junior Warriors outscored the Tiger Cubs, 20-12, in the third quarter en route to their largest lead of 33 points at 72-39.
Dustin Bathan finished with 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the Tiger Cubs, while Jhon Canapi struggled with just 11 points, on 1-of-24 field goal shooting.
The Tiger Cubs missed the services of Andwele Cabañero in the winner-take-all game due to a one-game suspension following his ejection in Game 2 for a closed fist hit on Junior Warriors’ Neil Garcia./PN
