By Ryan Cabanero
The Father Duenas Alumni Basketball Tournament churned out another classic Wednesday evening as the classes of 2012 and 2013 battled it out until the very last second. 2012 squeaked by their alumni rivals on a game-winner from Tony Paulino to give his class the 52-50 victory.
Although down for much of the first half, the class of 2012 showed exactly why basketball is a game of runs. Led by Paulino and Stanley Wong, who each finished with 17 and 19 points respectively, the elder alumni were able to cut a seven point deficit and regain the lead, 29-28, right before halftime.
With 25 seconds left in regulation, Paulino signaled his teammates for an isolation play against a very game defender. At around 8 seconds left he made his move. A couple of dribbles to get just enough space to shoot right in the face of his opponent; splash! With 3 seconds on the game clock, 2013 attempted to tie the game but fell short due to the lockdown defense of 2012.
Back and forth second half
At the start of the second half, 2012 wasted little time in adding to their slight lead as Wong scored a quick two points off a corner jumper that saw nothing but net. 2013 answered right back through a series of timely passes that ended with a three point jumper to tie the game at 31.
A few plays later, 2013 began making a slight push and eventually regained the lead off of a stellar drive to the basket by their own Michael Sakazaki, who finished with 10 points. The seesaw effect on the scoreboard continued as Glen Gogue of 2012 hit a much contested three over his defender to once again tie the game at 39.
Not to be outdone, Sakazaki continued his dominant play on both sides of the court; scoring an easy two on one end and coming up big with a momentum shifting block that lead to a fastbreak layup for teammate, John Baza.
With just under five minutes left on the clock, 2012’s Paulino and Wong began their two man show, scoring from all angles and forcing 2013 into difficult situations. But just as it seemed that 2012 would pull away, stifling defense from Baza resulted in a layup and a two point jumper that eventually put them right back in the game, 50-50.
Then, Paulino called for the iso play, knocking down the ice-cold jumper over the taller Sakazaki for the win.
Weekend Scores
2006 – 54, 2013 – 50
1989 – 32, 1988 – 27
2016 – 64, 2009 – 61
2013 – 72, 2017 – 14
2007 – 51, 2008 – 34
2002/04 – 63, 2005 – 48
2016 – 60, 2014 – 58
1960 – 36, 1984/88 – 29
2009 – 61, 2010 – 55
2015 – 45, 2017 – 37
2006 – 63, 2005 – 54
1988 – 47, 1986/87 – 41
1989 – 50, 1982 – 47
1984/85 – 36, 1986/87 – 28
2010 – 61, 2012 – 58
2002/04 – 57, 2013 – 40
2016 – 55, 2017 – 43
2014 – 40, 2015 – 25
430 – 36, 2011 – 18
