ALLEN Vergara buried a huge 3-point in the crunch as Olivarez College pulled off a thrilling 79-74 win over Philippine Christian University-Dasmarinas to rule the University and Colleges Athletic League-PGFLEX Season 7 on Thursday at the Paco Arena in Manila.
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 trey to give Olivarez a 78-74 lead with 16.1 seconds left.
His heroics did not end there as the high-leaping guard grabbed the rebound in the Dolphins final possession before Patrick Panelo's free throw ended the school’s series of misfortunes and missed opportunities in the tournament.
"Seven seasons apat na taon kong niligawan busted ako, so ngayon sa wakas kinasal din kami nito," said Olivarez head coach Myk Saguiguit, who kissed the trophy in relief after ending a spell of four runner-up in the league's first six seasons.
Panelo, the hero of Game 2 that dragged the Finals series to a sudden death, was adjudged the Finals MVP after completing a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds to go with four steals for Olivarez
Vergara leads from the front
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.
"Yung team ko lahat sila gumawa nyan, trumabaho nyan at ang pinakaimportante sa lahat ang nag orchestrate yung coach namin sa itaas," said Saguiguit.
"In that Game 2, miracle shot sabi sa amin di pa kami tapos. May Thursday pa kayo so sabi ko sa kanila naniniwala ba kayo sa destiny? Ang kaso sa destiny tinatrabaho yan, so ngayon ginawa nila lahat," he added.
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.
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