BIG CITY, BIG FINISH

CEBU CITY — National Capital Region (NCR) inched closer to yet another overall title following the conquests of its basketball and volleyball squads in the final day of the 64th Palarong Pambansa here on Monday.

After blowing away the field in the first four days of action, the Big City bets pocketed 79 gold, 61 silver and 70 bronze medals to step on the brink of their 19th straight overall title.

Results of boxing and athletic events are still pending at press time but NCR’s victory is already within reach as its close pursuers in CALABARZON, Western Visayas, Davao Region and Central Luzon are way behind in the medal standings as of 6 p.m.

Southern Tagalog athletes have 57 gold, 36 silver and 51 bronze medals while Western Visayas has a count of 51-35-39, Davao 25-33-30, and Central Luzon 28-40-36 to round out the top five squads of this 17-region sports conclave.

Making the victory even sweeter for NCR were the victories of their athletes in two of the country’s most popular sports — basketball and volleyball.

Bannered by University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) powerhouse National University-Nazareth School (NUNS), the Big City dribblers drubbed Central Luzon, 86-71, in the gold medal match of the secondary boys’ event.

It was a dramatic win that saw the ejection of Jackson Jackson, John Stephen Estanislao, and Guilz Gueverra of Central Luzon as well as NCR team captain Alnhumaeri Usop after figuring in a shoving match in the 7:13 mark of the second quarter.

From there, NCR dictated the tempo, erecting a 28-point lead to seal the victory and avenge its loss to the Jared Bahay-led Central Visayas in the previous edition of Palaro in Marikina City.

NCR head coach Leo Pujante said while winning the gold medal was their main goal, they should still stay focused on the task at hand.

“We just want to showcase NU basketball because vengeance is not in the school’s vision-mission. We just want them to play,” said Pujante, who drew 16 points from Timothy Matias.

“It feels good because we lost in our home court last year and now, we won it on the home turf of our last year’s tormentors.”

In the secondary boys’ volleyball, NCR had some scary moments before pulling off a 27-29, 25-19, 19-25, 28-26, 16-14 win over CALABARZON at the University of San Jose-Recoletos Basak campus gym.

NCR coach Edgar Barroga said he had to remind his boys to stay calm and enjoy the game, especially in the deciding set in which the Southern Tagalog spikers displayed their prowess.

“In the end, I just told them to enjoy the game, remove the pressure in their bodies, and God will help us,” said Barroga, whose wards also play for NUNS in the UAAP.

“We finished the tournament undefeated but the final game was close.”

Miguel Egger led the way, firing 32 points for NCR, which swept all of its seven matches.

The NCR secondary girls’ volleyball team, bannered by Far Eastern University, had to settle for a silver medal following a 15-25, 25-18, 29-27, 22-25, 12-15 loss to defending champion Western Visayas, which is represented by Bacolod Tay Tung High School.