HERCOR College Junior Jaguars clinched the 2nd EXSEMS Basketball Pocket Tournament crown after sweeping all their three games at the Ibajay Multipurpose Gymnasium in Aklan province.
The Junior Jaguars tallied their third victory Tuesday night after defeating CenterPhil Montessori Silver Knights 95-76 behind another strong showing from Janwell Famaranco.
Famaranco, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, finished with 25 points while Federico Conanan and Raffy Arguelles had 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Junior Jaguars. Lester Valn Paraico had 27 points for the Silver Knights (1-2).
The Junior Jaguars built a 23-15 lead in the opening quarter and further expanded this from the second quarter onwards toward 20 points, the largest in the game.
Meanwhile, Hua Siong College of Iloilo Red Phoenix (2-1) captured the runner-up finish after a come-from-behind 84-80 victory over the last placer Exsems Aklan Selection (0-3).
Down 11 points at the end of the third quarter, Reynold Tupas, Carlo Miguel Paguntalan and JJ Gerochi conspired in a huge run in the final quarter for the Red Phoenix to turn things around.
Tupas led Hua Siong with 19 points while Paguntalan and Gerochi had 16 and 11 points, respectively, for the Red Phoenix. James Patrick Santiago had 20 points to lead the way for the Aklan selection.
Apart from Famaranco, also named as part of the Mythical Selection in the three-day pocket tournament were Tupas, Arguelles, Conanan, and Jose Rey Tuya of the Silver Knights./PN
