Agro snatched the last final spot in the College Division 1 of the 5th Gaisano South Cup, pulling off a convincing 86 – 58 victory over Jose Maria College Kings Thursday night to arrange a title showdown with Ateneo De Davao University Blue Knights at the GS Citimall Skygym.
The Sailors played superb basketball in both ends of the floor in disposing the Kings and most importantly making it to the finals for the first time.
After taking a 39 – 24 lead at the half, the Sailors never looked back to nail the victory that gave them a ticket to face the Blue Knights in the best of three finals which begins on December 9, 7:30 pm.
Allan Ardinio came out as Agro’s top performer in the lopsided semi-final match with 22 points and 7 rebounds.
Boy Caminade chipped in 18 points for the Sailors who took a 23 – 9 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“Sana tuloy-tuloy na ito,” (I hope this will continue) said Agro head coach Mat Cubero who is seeking his first GS Cup crown.
Agro made excellent defensive stops in the opening quarter resulting in several fast-break plays which saw the Sailors converting easy baskets.
JMC fought hard despite the absence of key players Jeriel Oligario and Jimm Jones but just fell short to Agro which scored a clean 5 – 0 swept in the classification phase.
Playmaker Gravilla had 18 points for the Kings who never tasted a lead in the entire game.
Ariel Fortuna and Obed Batoy added 9 points apiece for the Sailors who increased the gap to 21, 63 – 42, after three quarters.
In college division 2, Ernesto Tabaniag scored seven straight points in the dying seconds to lift AMA Computer College into the finals by beating defending champs Holy Child College , 72 – 69 in their semi-final encounter.
Tabaniag finished the game with 20 points, 14 in the pay off period in which AMA outscored Holy Child, 25 – 14.
AMA will face MATS College in the best of three finals which also starts on December 9, 6 p.m.
The 5th GS Cup is sanctioned by BAP-SBP and sponsored by Rexona, Axe, Milo and Sunsport.