The deciding Game 3 of the Aspirants Division finals in the 39th Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association tournament between six-time defending champion Xavier School and Chiang Kai Shek College will be held on Wednesday night (Feb. 18) at the Uno Gym in Tondo, Manila.

Sunday afternoon (Feb. 15), Chiang Kai Shek College Blue Dragons deadlocked the best-of-three championship series at 1-1 with a come-from-behind 76-70 victory over the Xavier School Golden Stallions.

Xavier took the series opener, 82-76, on Valentine’s Day, behind the impressive performance of Kyles Lao, Jarell Lim and John So.

In Game 2, Xavier again jumped to an early 10-0 start but CKSC rallied to take a 23-20 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Stallions were behind, 31-28, before nine unanswered points gave them a 37-31 advantage. CKSC sliced the deficit to four, 37-33, at halftime on a pair of free throws by Carlo Young.

Xavier was still ahead, 55-47, at the end of the third period. But CKSC opened the payoff quarter with 13 straight points, 60-55, as Xavier fell into a maze of errors as a result of suffocating trapping defense put up by the opposition.

In the first 38 seconds of the fourth quarter, the Dragons scored six consecutive points on three completed steals in Xavier’s backcourt and near CKSC’s own basket. Kimlee Bayquin (two points), guard John Nieles (two), Young (two) and Karlo Yap (seven) shared the offensive wealth during the stunning turnaround that emboldened the Dragons.

Lao clustered five straight points as Xavier equalized the count at 60-all. Following another deadlock at 64-64 with four minutes left, Bayquin and center John Lee scored knocked in four points in succession, as CKSC regained the lead, 68-64, and never trailed again.

The pesky Nieles connected on a three and a two-pointer to hand the Dragons their biggest lead of the game, 73-65, with less than three minutes remaining.

Nieles and Yap each contributed 21 points for Chiang Kai Shek, which also got 13 from Bayquin and 11 from Young.

Lao shot 12-for-19 from the field and 11-for-14 from the free-throw line en route to a 35-point, five-rebound effort for Xavier. Burly center So collected 15 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots while Juan Susmerano totaled 10 points and Lim had five for the Stallions, who beat CKSC 2-0 in last year’s Aspirants finals.

In the Girls’ High School division, Chiang Kai Shek College retained its crown against Uno High School.

In the Cheerleading competitions, St. Jude Catholic School emerged as champion for the fourth consecutive year.

The Tiong Lian games are being televised on the fast-rising Makisig Sports Network via Skycable Channel 76 and 82 on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 5-9 p.m.