Balanga claims Patriot's Cup fourth leg

Balanga claims the fourth leg.

Wilkins-Balanga topped the penutimate leg of the 2019 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 Patriot's Cup presented by Coca-Cola this past weekend, becoming the fourth different winner of the tournament as it heads to the Grand Final in a couple of weeks.

Balanga defeated their arch-rivals Gold's Gym-Pasig, 21-17 in the final, their first finals meeting in the Patriot's Cup.

This would not have been possible if not for the return of Leonard Santillan, who impressed on his Patriot's Cup debut. The former La Salle standout was a key cog for Balanga in their President's Cup stint where they finished second. Leonard says, "Yun lang nasa isip ko. Sabi ko sa sarili ko nakapag bumalik ako ng 3x3, dapat champion ako. Na-miss ko yung larong ito."

Alvin Pasaol shared after their win, "Laking bagay ni Santi kasi lalo kaming lumaki. Grabe din yung mga shots niya."

Trailing 8-9 midway into the final, a Santillan deuce sparked a 7-2 run to enable Balanga to establish a 15-11 lead. But the duo of Taylor Statham and Joshua Munzon battled back for the Kings to be down 18-16 with 2:29 remaining.

A returning Prince Orizu managed to make it a two-possession game, before Pasaol got Balanga to the hill with 115 seconds remaining.

The UE standout finished things off with a tough runner over Nikola Pavlovic and Statham with 86 seconds left to end the game and secure the PhP 100,000 bag.

Pasaol and Santillan scored eight and seven points, respectively, with Karl Dehesa adding five markers.

Munzon led all scorers with ten points.

The Grand Final is set to provide some fireworks with both Balanga, Pasig, Phenom-Basilan Steel-CTC Construction, and VetHealth-Delhi 3x3BL all having a shot at winning the tournament, as all four teams have a clear shot at topping the points table.

Pasig and Balanga are tied at 310 points, although the Kings get the second seed while the Pure secure the third seed.

Even though they missed the finals for the first time in the Patriot's Cup, Basilan remain the top seed with 330 points. The Steel lost to Pasig in the semifinals, 17-7.

Delhi is in fourth at 290 points after being downed by Balanga in the semifinals, 21-20.

All four teams have secured quarterfinal spots, with the fifth and final leg adopting a different format from the previous four legs. The remaining eight teams will enter into a knockout format with the matchups depending on their seeding.

Awaiting the tournament champion is PhP 1,000,000 and a ticket to the Jeddah Masters of the 2019 FIBA 3x3 World Tour.

In the side events, Kiran Shastri continues his dominance in the Coca-Cola Two-Point Shootout, defeating Franky Johnson in the final to claim his fourth straight title. However, David Carlos was not able to defend his Coca-Cola Slam Dunk title, as Jebb Bulawan ended that streak.

The Scores:

Wilkins-Balanga 21 - Pasaol 8, Santillan 7,  Dehesa 5, Orizu 1.

Gold's Gym-Pasig 17 - Munzon 10, Statham 6, Ababou 1, Pavlovic 0.