National Finals thriller - Overtime win by STI College Caloocan

One of the seven booming triples 

of Jomar Salazar

Elusive. That’s how you can describe STI College Caloocan’s campaign to win a game in the national finals. Finally that win came on the last day of the elimination round of the National Finals of the STI National basketball Tournament. Two days ago, the Caloocan dribblers were on their way to win their first game after going winless in two National Finals campaigns, unfortunately their opponents caught up on them to steal the game away. This one almost went that way again as STI College Caloocan beat STI College Las Piñas 88 – 86 in overtime.

This wa sthe farewell game 

of Paul Laysico

Nickael Patricio scored on a jumper while Andreas Schmidt sank a free throw to give the Caloocan team a two point lead with seven seconds left. STI College Las Piñas scoring machine Danico Merced’s three point heave at the buzzer did not go in which gave the Caloocan team a sigh of relief. STI College Caloocan needed an extra five minutes to get their first win in three seasons playing in the National Finals.

Danico Merced had 41 points

STI College Las Piñas should not be ashamed by their campaign either. Visibly disheartened by their loss to STI College Global City, the Las Piñas team came to the game with only five players. But there was no questioning the heart of the remaining five as Danico Merced came out with a game of a lifetime by scoring 41 points.

The vastly improved Jerome Faelden 

had a double - double

Jerome Faelden ably backed up Merced with a double – double as he scored 11 points, had 20 rebounds and issued 3 assists.

The rest of the fab five, Raymond Salvador chipped in 19 points and 15 rebounds, Franco Salvia had 8 points, 3 rebounds and 9 assists and Neil Gutay had 8 points and 7 rebounds but unfortunately fouled out during the overtime period.

Berceño with one of his slithery moves

With much being said about the fab five, the game still belonged to the Caloocan dribblers as Jomar Salazar and Basti Berceño combined to give the Caloocan team the win. Salazar scored on a three pointer with six minutes left in the fourth quarter to give STI College Caloocan a 71 – 61 lead. Unfortunately, they relaxed after that basket that enabled STI College Las Piñas to come back. Salazar had seven triples for 27 points while Berceño came off the bench to score 18 points, had 8 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal and a block in a show of his all-around abilities.

A commendable game by Gutay

STI College Caloocan also missed the inside presence of center Andre Castillo who did not suit up for the game. Now that they have won their first game in the Nationals, expect the Caloocan team to be back next year with much more experience and hopefully more wins in the their next campaign.

For the complete stats of the game please click the link below:

http://livestats.geniussports.com/webcast/STINBT/866649/