Basilan claim Patriot's Cup title

Your Patriot's Cup champion

Newcomers Phenom-Basilan Steel-CTC Construction established themselves as the newest force in the 3x3 scene in the country, claiming the final leg of the Chooks Pilipinas 3x3 Patriot's Cup presented by Coca-Cola.

The Steel cruised by Tycoon Ballers-Quezon City, 21-4 in the quarterfinals before dispatching second leg champions VetHealth Delhi 3x3BL in the semifinals, 21-14. They would then cap it off by defeating Wilkins-Balanga Pure 21-20 in an overtime thriller.

With the game ending at 19-all after ten minutes, Balanga managed to get ahead after a Karl Dehesa layup. But the rules dictate that the winning team needs to score two points to claim a victory, and Troy Rike made a quick hand off to Franky Johnson, who then made his way towards the right corner, where he heaved a fadeaway deuce over Dehesa's outstretched arms.

After the heave made it through the net, pandemonium ensued.

Franky shares, "Everything was just moving so fast. I wasn’t even thinking about that shot, but as soon as my teammate got the rebound and got the ball to me, I was just kinda open a little bit so I just decided to pull it. Thank God it went in, so I’m really excited about that."

For Rike, it's back-to-back titles, after being part of Grindhouse-Pasig that claimed the President's Cup earlier this year. Regarding the game-winner, he says, "The play didn’t come off as cleanly as we wanted, but that’s what I’m saying. I trust Franky, I believe in Franky and he’s one hell of a shooter. So I know that if I give him even an inch of space, I knew he was gonna knock it down."

Marcus Hammonds led all scorers with nine points, with a returning Roosevelt Adams adding five markers.

By winning, Basilan not only earn a million pesos but also gets slotted into the Jeddah Masters of the 3x3 World Tour this coming October.

Alvin Pasaol led Balanga with eight markers, while Marcus Hammonds added seven points. They will not go home empty handed, as they get PhP 400,000 and a slot at the Xiongan Challenger scheduled this August. They outlasted rivals Gold's Gym-Pasig in the semifinals, 21-17.

The President's Cup champions finished in third place and snaps up PhP 200,000.

Team Manager Jackson Chua was overjoyed with the result, says "Wala akong masabi. It couldn't get more exciting as this. Ang hirap ng dinaanan namin. No better way to end it."

In the side events, Kiran Shastri completes the sweep of the Coca-Cola Two-Point Shootout, while David Carlos and Brodie Stephens were crowned as co-champions at the Coca-Cola Slam Dunk Competition.


The Scores:

Phenom-Basilan 21 - Hammonds 9, Adams 5, Johnson 5, Rike 1.

Wilkins-Balanga 20 - Pasaol 8, Franklin 7, De Chavez 3, Dehesa 2.