ILOILO City – Central Philippine University Golden Lions bagged the 82nd Iloilo City Charter Day Inter-Collegiate Basketball tournament crown by making a 75-73 escape from Western Institute of Technology at the Jaro Gym.
Miguel Sasuman, Rey-Ann Tupas, Elcyd Pascual, rookies Jesse Sullano and Wilmer Dalumpines came up with strong showings in the all-important match to emerge as champions.
The tournament was organized by the Iloilo City Sports Development Division.
It was a tightly-contested game. The Golden Lions clung to a 74-70 advantage before WIT made the game interesting with a three-pointer.
Sasuman extended Golden Lions’ advantage to 75-73 with a split free throw in the final three seconds before tightening its defense on WIT’s attempt for a game-winning basket.
“We are glad to pull off the victory. It was very close, especially in the last two minutes,” said Golden Lions sports director Edwin Caro Laru-an. “We hope this will be just one of the many trophies we will take home.”
Also part of the team of coaches Warren Jalipa and Matthew Montalvo were Wilfred Peracullo, Sidrick Palacios, Ramon Pico, Victor Demadara, Antonio Llanza, Joe Rosales, Kerwin Onate, Dan John Saladar, Miguel Yu, Christian Caturas, Paul Guerrero, and Sak Galvez.
The Golden Lions reached the finals after defeating Iloilo Doctor’s College in one game, while WIT survived University of San Agustin in a do-or-die semifinals game Thursday last week.
The SanAg salvaged the bronze medal after defeating IDC in the battle for third place./PN
