FOR the second year in a row, Batang Tiaong proved to be the class of South Luzon after dominating St. Jude College (SJC)-Dasmariñas 88-63 in the 2024 NBTC Regional Championship (RC) final last Sunday at Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.
John Renz Apor, Aldwin Herrera, and Maury Gorospe connived for 10 unanswered points in the first 96 seconds, as the home team didn’t give the Caviteños a chance to try and silence their crowd. Another 16-2 start to the second quarter spearheaded by John Rex Villanueva blew up the Quezonians’ lead to 42-16 and their advantage ballooned to as big as 37 69-32 midway through the third quarter.
Apor wrapped up an impressive run in the tournament by dropping 23 points, including five triples, en route to being hailed as Most Outstanding Player.
Fresh off standing out in their RC, Batang Tiaong now heads to the Philippine basketball under-19 championship, where they’ll look to improve on a quarterfinals finish a year ago.
Silver in the tournament hosted by the Provincial Government of Quezon and Rep. “Atorni” Mike Tan and Gov. ‘Doktora’ Helen Tan went to SJC-Dasmariñas, while Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas (West and Southeast Cavite) bagged bronze by virtue of a stronger win-loss record than fourth-placer One Media TV48-Naga (Albay).
The South Luzon RC Final Four now turn their attention to the 2024 Smart-NBTC National Finals presented by SM Supermalls from March 18-24 at SM Mall of Asia Arena. There, they’ll be joined by 12 other qualifiers from North Luzon, Mindanao, and Visayas; the UAAP and NCAA’s finalists; 10 squads from the NBTC’s Global Partners in USA, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand; and two more wildcard teams.