BACOLOD City – Bacolod Tay Tung High School Thunderbolts were hailed as kings of the Chooks-to-Go SM National Basketball Training Center (NBTC) Tournament-Bacolod leg after a close 78-74 victory over Colegio de Sta. Ana de Victorias (CSAV) in the finals on Jan. 19 at the Bacolod Arts and Youth Sports (BAYS) Center.
It wasn’t an easy Tay Tung victory as they saw their 58-54 advantage in the third quarter turn into a 69-68 deficit after an accumulative scoring run by CSAV.
The Thunderbolts, however, got timely conversions from big man Heinz Gabriel Demisana, Fritz Valencia and Martin Beatingo down the stretch to regain the advantage for good.
Kent Esparagoza top-scored with 21 points, while Demisana and Beatingo chipped in 13 and 12 markers, respectively, for the Thunderbolts. Valencia, who finished with nine points, was named as the tournament’s MVP.
“Since the start of the tournament, the players have showed their willingness to win,” said Thunderbolts head coach Ronald Despi. “They showed the never say die attitude and they offered each game to the God.”
Also part of the Thunderbolts team were Josh Luciano, Nathan Jundana, John Mark Mercado, Jules Wong, Joseph Palaganas, Andy Villamer, Ralph Cagalawan, Dritter Ilalto, Lucky Charm Ramos, Benedick Gulmatico and Leindon Chong.
THE NBTC qualifiers is presented by Chooks to Go, SM, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP), Go for Gold, Molten, Vivo, Smart, Cignal, Phoenix, Darlinton, Exped and ESPN5./PN
