Petron-Goldberry bags third straight Division A title

Players and team officials of Petron-Goldberry gather after winning the Division A title of the SHAABAA.
contributed photo

THE PETRON-GOLDBERRY showed the heart of a champion and came all the way back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth period to edge the feisty RDAK Stallions, 62-59, in Game Three and win its third straight title in Division A of the 20th Sacred Heart Ateneo Alumni Basketball Athletic Association (SHAABAA) Cup basketball tournament last Wednesday night at the Ateneo de Cebu basketball court along Mango Avenue.
It was a classic match up between guile and experience versus youth and energy. And for a while, it seemed as if the Stallions would finally get the upper hand as they held the lead for most of the match and remained in front by nine, 52-43, after a booming triple by Jair Igna and a free throw by Lucky Ecarma a minute into the final frame.
But Petron-Goldberry dug deep and made a run of its own, sparked by a shot-clock beating three-pointer and a scoop shot by Justin Huang, a driving lay up by Job Shan and a game-tying left-handed shot by the league’s many-time MVP Dave Lim with 3:35 to go.
Petron-Goldberry eventually grabbed the upper hand, 54-52, off two free throws by  Ed Macasling. The Stallions evened up the count for the last time at 55-all of two from the line by Igna but Macasling drew a foul off a nifty pump fake and canned two more from the charity stripe to put Petron-Goldberry in front, 57-55, with 54 ticks on the clock.
After Fletcher Galvez pulled RDAK to within one with a split from the line, the Stallions had a precious opportunity to regain the driver’s seat but Igna threw the ball away on a drive. With the seconds slowly ticking away, the Stallions were forced to foul Shan, who calmly sank two freebies to extend the lead to three, 59-56 with 28 seconds remaining.
RDAK wasted away its final shot at tying the match as AJ Ong was called for a double-dribble violation in its last possession. Macasling and Shan sealed the victory and the championship with three more free throws.
Shan and Macasling led Petron-Goldberry with 12 points each while wide-bodied forward Leigh Dixon nearly had a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds laced with four steals.