Perpetual Junior ALTAs beat NU-Nazareth to rule inaugural NGBL tilt

University of Perpetual Help System DALTA emerged as the maiden champion of the Next Generation Basketball League (NGBL) after weathering National University-Nazareth School, 96-93, in their knockout finals match on Saturday.

The Junior ALTAs, which recently saw action in the NCAA Season 99 junior basketball finals against eventual champion Letran, completed a perfect run in the tournament with an impressive 10-game sweep.

Jericho Cristino starred for the squad, burying five three-pointers on the way to a 21-point outing to lead the charge against the UAAP powerhouse.

With the win, the Las Piñas crew bagged P300,000 in cash prizes.

“Napakasaya po namin na nakuha po namin yung gusto namin,” Cristino said.

“Dahil po ‘to sa pinaghirapan at mga sakripisyo namin, pero ‘di ko naman po inasahan na ako yung magiging Finals MVP. ‘Di ko naman po iniisip yung mga score ko, talagang ginawa ko lang po yung best ko para makatulong sa team.”

[We are so happy that we were able to accomplish what we set out to do... This is because of our hard work and sacrifice but I didn't expect that I would become Finals MVP. I wasn't thinking about scoring, I just did my best to help my team.]

The wards of head coach Joph Cleopas once stared at a 14-point deficit after NUNS’ Sean Solomon gave the Bullpups a 69-55 with 4:39 left in the third.

But the mighty Junior ALTAs responded with a 19-5 rampage led by Cristino and holdovers JD Pagulayan and Lebron Jhames Daep to eventually force a 74-all deadlock.

Cristino as well as tournament MVP Jan Roluna then put up the finishing kick despite a strong fourth quarter from NUNS.

“Sobrang blessed ko lang. Grabe eh, 10 pala yung games na dinaanan namin. Sobrang speechless ako ngayon, and deserve ‘to ng mga bata talaga,” Cleopas said.

“Nire-recall ko lang din yung practice namin nung Friday. Sabi ko sa kanila, ipanalo namin muna yung practice, then the game will be just the celebration. The harder you work, the luckier you get, kaya we're blessed and we're lucky today.”

[I'm so blessed. We've gone through 10 games already. I'm so speechless right now, and the boys really deserve this... I just recall our practice last Friday. I told them, first let's win this practice and then the game will just be the celebration. The harder you work, the luckier you get, that's why we're blessed and lucky today.]

The scores:

Perpetual 96 — Cristino 21, Roluna 16, Corpuz 14, Callangan 13, Pagulayan 10, Daep 9, Baldoria 7, Tabbuan 5, Nitura 1, Rosales 0, Zanoria 0, Velasquez 0, Borja 0.

NU-Nazareth 93 — Alfanta 23, Akowe 21, Cartel 13, Natinga 9, Palanca 9, Locsin 8, Solomon 5, Matias 3, Figueroa 2, Pillado 0, Napa 0, Usop 0.

Quarterscores: 22-24, 48-55, 74-74, 96-93.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA Integrated News