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Mark Jayven Tallo towed the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) to the promised land as he led the Wildkittens to their first ever juniors title in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (CESAFI) with a 81-78 win over the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) Baby Jaguars in Game 3 of the the best-of-five series yesterday at the Cebu Coliseum.
Tallo, the reigning Jr. NBA MVP, did not miss a beat as, after scoring 29 points in their Game 2 win, he came up with an unforgettable performance, tallying 34 points, including 14 markers in the final period that pushed his undermanned squad to a 3-0 sweep of the finals.
He capped off his incredible performance this season by capturing the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award along with his spot in the prestigious Mythical Five squad.
The 15-year old playmaker was in a class of his own as he scored nine straight points at the onset of the fourth period with a barrage of fancy drives to the basket, each one more spectacular than the last. His basket with 6:04 remaining gave CIT a 66-64 lead.
USJ-R retaliated by using their height advantage, as Edu Autentico and Clint Munez scored on inside for a 69-66 lead.
Tallo scored the last of his points with a booming three-pointer that tied the game at 69-all. A basket by CIT's Monsour Pamaong was equalized by a shot by Autentico that tied the count at 71-all with two minutes left in the game.
CIT's vaunted shock troopers took over as Clyvin Lima-Lima hit a floater while Wilkins Sanchez hit a three-pointer that gave CIT a five-point cushion, 76-71, with 1:35 left in the match.
A free-throw by Arthur Go and a trfecta by Alister Escatron sliced the lead down to one, 75-76, but Lima-Lima rose to the occasion as he rattled in an undergoal stab off a nice pass by Franklin Batiquin that pegged the score at 78-75 with just 21.5 ticks remaining. Batiquin made two more free-throws that sealed the title for CIT.
Batiquin, who had 18 points, joined Tallo on the Mythical Five team.
The rest of the Mythical Five includes the University of the Visayas' Gerald Legarde and the University of Cebu's Gerald Ampoon.
