Four legs, four champions.
It was Wilkins-Balanga Pure's turn to win, taking the penultimate leg of the Chooks to Go Pilipinas 3x3 Patriot's Cup presented by Coca-Cola at the SM Megamall Events Center Saturday afternoon.
In their second straight finals appearance, the Balanga quartet of Alvin Pasaol, Karl Dehesa, Santi Santillan, and Prince Orizu renewed their rivalry in the President's Cup against the Gold's Gym Pasig four of Joshua Munzon, Taylor Statham, Dylan Ababou, and Nikola Pavlovic, coming out victorious 21-17 (1:25) to take home the P100,000 prize.
The returning Santillan made his presence felt for the Leg 4 champions, scoring 7 points in their last game of the day.
From a 9-8 deficit following Statham's one-handed push shot, the former DLSU Green Archer scored three straight to take an 11-9 lead.
Santillan increased Balanga's lead to five, 18-13, after two free throws, but Munzon drilled a tough bank shot from downtown to cut the lead to two, 18-16.
Orizu and Pasaol then scored consecutive baskets inside to come within match point. After Statham split his freebies, Pasaol willed himself to the basket, hitting a difficult runner between the outstretched arms of Pavlovic to take the win.
The top-ranked Filipino 3x3 baller Munzon topscored for Pasig in a losing effort with 10 points.
In their journey to the title, Balanga overcame an acid test against World #18 VetHealth Delhi-3BL in the semifinals, 21-20, 1:04. The Indians looked like they were heading to their second Finals appearance with them comfortably ahead, 19-14 with less than four minutes to go.
The former UAAP standouts Pasaol and Santillan connived to score three straight markers to cut the lead to two, 19-17. Pasaol had a chance to tie the game, but muffed his two free throw attempts.
Sensing the miss, Pasaol soared to get the rebound, leading to the putback, cutting the lead to one, 19-18. He then stole the ball and drilled an absurd corner two-pointer to overtake the Indians, 20-19, with 1:37 left.
However, the former Tamaraw Orizu was hit with an untimely technical foul to let Delhi tie the game. Pasaol was fouled in the subsequent possession, hitting the second foul shot to send them to the championship game at the 1:04 mark.
On the other hand, Pasig relied on their physicality and defensive intensity to stifle last leg's winners Bataan, 17-7. Racing to a 6-1 lead behind Munzon's baskets, they never looked back as they advanced.
"I am so blessed since I was able to reunite with my teammates," said the towering Santillan in Filipino. "I returned with only one thing in my mind: winning the championship."
In the Coca-Cola side events, David Carlos was dethroned by big man Jebb Bulawan in the Slam Dunk Contest, preventing his fourth straight plum.
The lanky sharpshooter Shastri was able to defend his title as the most accurate outside shooter in the Two-Point Shootout, outscoring Basilan's Franky Johnson.
After four compelling legs, the top four teams earn an automatic quarterfinals berth in the fifth and final leg, while the bottom eight squads will duke it out for the remaining four slots via knockout matches on Saturday, July 27, also at SM Megamall.
The winner of the fifth leg will most likely take home the P 1,000,000 prize and a berth in the Jeddah Masters, while the remaining two teams will head to the Xiong'An Challenger.
THE SCORES:
Wilkins Balanga (21) -- Pasaol 8, Santillan 7, Dehesa 5, Orizu 1.
Gold's Gym-Pasig (17) -- Munzon 10, Statham 6, Ababou 1, Pavlovic 0.