Letran-Manila and Durham Crossover-Toronto emerged victorious, booking their place in the Fantastic 8 of the Division 1 in the 2019 Chooks-to-Go NBTC League National Finals presented by SM, Wednesday at SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The eight-seeded Squires opened Day Three with a 60-57 come-from-behind win over No. 9 Hope Christian-Manila behind the efforts of John Tabajen whose relentless effort allowed them to fight back from a 12-point first half deficit.
Tabajen’s putback in the final minute sealed the victory as he finished with a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds in the Supreme 16 of the national championship for high school sponsored by Chooks-to-Go, Darlington-Exped Socks, EPSON, Huawei, Freego, Purefoods, Gatorade, Go for Gold, SM, Molten, and presented by 5Plus and Lighthouse Events.
Andrei Romenez topped Letran-Manila with 14 points and three rebounds, CJ Saure got 13 points and 12 boards, and Shawn Umali scored 10 points and hauled down 16 rebounds in the win.
Durham Crossover-Toronto, meanwhile, progressed to its first Fantastic 8 appearance with a 109-75 trouncing of Sta. Clarita International-Iloilo.
Meanwhile, at Palm Coast Marina, Sto. Domingo National HS-Legazpi held off Narvacan National HS-Candon, 72-62, even as First City Providential College-Bulacan blasted University of San Jose-Recoletos-Cebu, 75-50, to be the first teams to advance to the Division 2 Fantastic 8.
