An NCAA school finally broke through in the Fil Oil Flying V summer tournament. San Sebastian continued its amazing title run, annexing the First Five Cup 79 – 78, dethroning last summer’s champion Far Eastern University. This marked the first time that an NCAA school brought home the championship in the tournament that first began as the Homegrown Cup in 2005.

At first it seemed like the Golden Stags would literally run away with the title, going up as much as 17-5 in the first period. Team leader Calvin Abueva got off to an early start as he combined with veteran Gilbert Bulawan and the electric Ronald Pascual in a flurry of inside incursions and quick hits off their patented early offense. FEU however would pick up the pace as incoming rookie and reigning UAAP Juniors MVP Terrence “Jet” Romeo brought the Tamaraws back into the game with his own transition attacks. Romeo combined with Smart Gilas mainstay Aldrech Ramos to bring the Tamaraws to within 28-22 early in the second period. Ryan Roose Garcia, a former RP Youth Team starter, also began to find his range.

San Sebastian however hung stubbornly to the lead, keeping FEU at bay with quicker and more precise passing even as FEU went to their dreaded 2-2-1 three-quarter court press, trying to herd the San Sebastian guards to the midcourt line elbow where their trap could be set. Pamboy Raymundo, Anthony Del Rio and Raymond Maconocido found ways to slither out of the tight Tamaraw defense even as Pascual, Abueva and Ian Sangalang continued to find the seams in the defense to score inside. Garcia still got in his licks with a 26-foot buzzer-beating trey to end the half at 41-35 for San Sebastian.

FEU had made a habit of starting slow and then kicking in on offense and defense in the second half, much to the consternation of their coaching staff and fans. They needed an overtime to get past a highly-improved Adamson side in the Final 4, and it looked like this would be more of the same. They did after all already beat the Stags in their elimination round encounter, coming from behind again as Reil Cervantes scored the pivotal baskets in the fourth period of that game. It looked like this would be a repeat of that match, with a similar storyline and a similar ending.

Preparing for the inevitable FEU run, San Sebastian went to their dreaded match-up zone using Abueva’s ability to be the cover man over vast sections of the court on his own. Bulawan was having his way bullying the FEU forwards inside as well. Mark Bringas however came into the game and promptly gave Bulawan a taste of his own medicine. Ironically Bringas, used to be with the Stags, where he and Bulawan were teammates. He and Bulawan were even on the Stags team that was beaten by this same FEU squad in another offseason tournament over a year and a half ago.

FEU did go on a run, and even wrested the lead once at 56-55 on a Bringas layup. Ramos, fellow Smart Gilas mainstay JR Cawaling, Romeo and Garcia got going on both ends to fight their way back out of that deficit. Ramos held down the inside with his shot blocks, Romeo and Garcia converted on steals, Cawaling was everywhere else. But San Sebastian responded with a flurry to once again open things up 62-55 late in the third period behind the timely hits of Bulawan, Del Rio, Raymundo, Abueva and even Sangalang.

With the game grinding down to a grueling finish, Garcia nailed a trey to give FEU the 75-72 lead. Raymundo then responded with back-to-back treys of his own to give San Sebastian the 78-75 edge. Ramos nailed a three-pointer coming out of a timeout to knot the count at 78-all, time down to 34 seconds and change. As the Stags went into their offense, Abueva missed a shot and in the rebounding battle the ball came loose and rolled on the floor. Everybody and his brother made a dive and tried to grab the loose leather.

Then the surreal happened: a referee whistled FEU’s Chris Exciminiano for what he said was a holding foul. Video from the various TV cameras could not show clearly whether or not there was a foul. FEU’s bench was livid with disbelief over the call. Time was down to 2.9 seconds. Raymundo split his freethrows while Ramos clanked a desperation shot. San Sebastian had won its fourth straight major title over the last eight months or so. “It is the Lord’s Will, so we give thanks to Him,” said an ecstatic Ato Agustin, who came in and steered the Stags to the NCAA Season 85 championship, the National Students championship, the PBL PG Flex Cup championship, and now the First Five Cup championship. “All the credit goes to the boys, our championship experience came through for us,” he added.

Abueva had 23 points to lead the Stags while Pascual added 22. Garcia had 21 points himself for FEU, while Romeo had 20 before fouling out.

In the high school division, NCAA domninance continued, as the San Beda Red Cubs had all the incentive they needed and then some to turn back the Ateneo Blue Eaglets 78 – 69. They won the Ato Badolato Cup, named after the legend who steered the San Beda program to 16 NCAA junior division titles. Badolato retired after his 16th title run just last year in NCAA Season 85 with this very same roster. San Beda also owed Ateneo since the Blue Eaglets beat them in a semifinal encounter in another offseason tournament.

Alfonso Gotladera put his brawny 6-foot-5 frame to maximum use as he got plenty of inside points unchallenged. Baser Amer, the highly gifted guard, sure to become the next great recruitment prize, struggled in the early goings but put the finishing touches on the victory with his brilliant end-game play. Fans were eager to see his match-up against 15-year old Ateneo phenom and one-time fellow RP Youth Team star Keifer Ravena, and they weren’t disappointed.

Ravena played a lot of decoy in the first half, but then he saw that Ateneo wasn’t getting anywhere, as San Beda kept the Eaglets at bay. He nailed a triple to make it 63-62 for Ateneo, then made an assist to Jay Javelosa to make it 65-62. He turned up his attacks and went into full scoring mode by the time the fourth period rolled around. Ateneo however missed a lot of opportunities inside as Von Pessumal and Paolo Romero missed shots that could have turned the game around.

Meanwhile, Van Abatayo, Chris Javier, Darryl Nazareno and Bon Chavez hit timely shots to put San Beda back on top at 73-65. A three-point play by Baser in the last minute put the game away for the Red Cubs. “We dedicate this victory to Coach Ato and the entire San Beda community,” declared new head coach Brit Reroma. Reroma, a long-time assistant, inherited the reins from Badolato this year, and this is his first major title as head coach. “We hope this continues into the NCAA,” he added.

Amer and Gotladera had 17 each for San Beda, with Gotladera also getting 11 rebounds and two blocks. Ravena led all scorers with 26 points but also had nine turnovers, including at least three attempts in the last three minutes to try and fish fouls for and-1 opportunities.

Abueva, after a solid tournament that saw him average a near-double double, was named tournament MVP; he was joined by Cervantes, Garcia, Cameroonian center Etame Joe of JRU and swingman Alex Nuyles of Adamson in the senior division Mythical 5. Amer was named MVP of the junior division, besting Ravena and Gino Jumao-as of San Sebastian.

In the end, this proved to be one of the most exciting championship games in the short history of the tournament. Bigger and better things, including perhaps some international participation, might be in the near future. “Nakaraos din tayo, hopefully we can continue this for a long time,” said Fil Oil’s Francisco “Tito Punch” Pasicolan.