2008 Flyboys secure Division 3 crown of USC North Alumni cagefest
THE 2008 Flyboys may be a rookie team but wide-eyed neophytes they most certainly are not.
This, as they captured the Division 3 crown in the University of San Carlos North Alumni Basketball Conference after veteran guard Nilton John Otida canned a buzzer-beating putback to dethrone the erstwhile champions, 2011
Elevens, 57-56, in Game 2 of the Sinulog Cup finals last Sunday at the USC North Campus gym.
After losing Game 1, the Elevens were bent on equalizing the series and played exceptional basketball to lead for most of the game. Though the Flyboys crept to within one, 53-54, after two free throws from Don Adlawan, the Elevens had a ready answer as Prince Malana swished a keyhole jumper to pad their lead to three, 56-53, with 1:27 to go.
But the Flyboys kept on coming and once again trimmed the deficit to a point after Miko Santos converted a tough transition lay-up, time down to 36 seconds. The Elevens then shot themselves in the foot by turning the ball over. On the game’s final possession, Batch 2008 big man Niño Tiu missed a baseline jumper but fortunately, Otida was there to pluck the offensive rebound and fling it back in as the final buzzer sounded to give them the win, the sweep and the title.
Otida came up with 11 points to lead the winning squad while Francis Omolon came off the bench and sank three crucial triples to end up with 10. Santos and USC Warriors skipper Nico Magat combined to score 16.
Malana and crafty guard Dave Guardiario had 12 apiece for the Elevens.
Adlawan, the Flyboys’ steady anchor down low, was named MVP. He was joined in the Mythical Five by Santos, Guardiario, the 2010 Pioneers’ Mike Rita and the 2007 Waybus’ Robert Codilla.
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