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THE smallest player of Arellano University had the biggest fighting
heart Thursday in the 15th Smart-National Capital Region Athletic
Association (NCRAA) men’s basketball tournament.
Five-foot-one Leonard Anquillo made a quick
steal off an inbounding Leomer Losentes in the last six seconds and
sprinted for a layup at the buzzer, propelling the Chiefs to a
thrilling 61-60 victory over the St. Francis of Assisi College Doves
to keep their NCRAA title at the jam-packed Arellano gym in Legarda.
The Chiefs swept their best-of-three series with
the Doves, 2-0, after taking Game 1 with a 73-68 win.
Anquillo, who was elevated to the collegiate
ranks for his gutsy plays which handed the Arellano University Baby
Chiefs the junior crown last year, only scored two points.
He made his move right after topscorer Adrian
Celada brought the Chiefs closer, 59-60 with his sixth triple for
the afternoon.
“Our hard work paid off in a miraculous
way,” said Chiefs coach Leo Isaac.
Celada led the Chiefs with 24 points, while team
skipper Nathaniel Estilo banged in 12.
Celada was later named as the tournament’s
most valuable player, while Losentes, who scored 23 points, earned
the Mythical Five honors, along with Raymund Ilagan of S. Francis,
Gio Ciriacruz of Arellano and John Valderrama of Emilio Aguinaldo
College.
A triple from Celada tied the count at 56-all,
for the last time. Then, the Doves fought their way to a 60-56
advantage on charities coming from Es Santos and Francis Martin.
Inside plays from Losentes at the start of the
third period allowed the Doves to bounce back from a 26-36 halftime
deficit and force a 40-all tie off his trey.
Meanwhile, the Arellano University Baby Chiefs
turned to the free throw line in the endgame to stop Rizal Tech,
65-59, and moved a win shy of sweeping the elimination round.
EJ Limboy and Jenel Javier fired crucial
charities in the last eight seconds to carry the Baby Chiefs to
their eighth straight victory.
Limboy and Javier struck with their free throws
moments after RTU came threatening by three, 59-62.
Levi Hernandez topscored for the Baby Chiefs
with 25 points.
Earlier, RTU won over St. Francis, 78-48, while
La Salle-Dasmariñas defeated Emilio Aguinaldo College, 56-55, in
women’s action.
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