THE UNIVERSITY of the Visayas Baby Lancers pulled the rug out from under the Iloilo Central Commercial High School as they came from 11 points down in the final five minutes of the match to win, 69-66, in the regional finals of the Coca Cola PBA Youngstars Basketball Tournament, yesterday at the West Negros University gym in Bacolod City.
The game was played on near-even terms at halftime as UV led by a hairline, 37-36. However, behind the scoring prowess of John Paul Calvo, Renzo John Uy and Ronilo Parahinog, ICCNHS went on a tear in the third canto and took a 54-43 lead heading to the final stanza.
UV rallied behind Ralph Dinolan, Leonard Santillan and Gerald Fernandez to hack out the thrilling victory and come within a win away from winning the regional crown and booking their slot in the national finals later this month.
The winner of this tournament will move on to represent the region in the national finals, slated May 27 to June 1 in Manila.
Dinolan paced UV with 21 points while Fernandez added 18 markers. Santillan also chipped in 13 points to help the cause of the Baby Lancers. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio