Allen Vergara buried a huge three-pointer down the stretch as Olivarez College (OC) pulled off a thrilling 79-74 win over Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas to rule the University and Colleges Athletic League (UCAL)-PGFLEX Season 7 on Thursday at the Paco Arena.
In a game marked by several lead changes and scoring binges, Vergara stood tallest as he exhibited pure guts in knocking down a cold-blooded step-back triple to give the Sea Lions a 78-74 lead with 16.1 seconds left.
His heroic did not end there as the high-leaping guard also completed the crucial defensive stop by soaring for the rebound in the Dolphins final possession before Patrick Panelo sealed the game with a free throw to finally end the school’s series of misfortunes and missed opportunities for the biggest prize of them all.
“I’ve been courting this for four years. Finally, we got married,” said Olivarez head coach Myk Saguiguit who kissed the trophy in relief after finally cutting the strings of futility that saw OC finish a runner-up in four of the first six seasons.
Panelo, the hero of Game 2 that dragged the Finals series to a sudden death, was adjudged as the Finals Most Valuable Player after also completing a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds to go with four steals for Olivarez.
Vergara finished with 14 points laced with five rebounds and six assists while Hakim Njiasse and Rodel Renon both also chipped in a double-double with the former tallying 21 points and 19 rebounds while the latter had 10 and 10.
“Everybody in the team worked hard for this victory. But more importantly, it was our coach up there who orchestrated everything.”
Joshua Dino and John Carl Catayong had 14 points for the Dolphins, who despite the heartbreaker, still put up their best season yet since joining the league in 2018.