By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Acster Marketing clinched the crown in the 1st United Negros Basketball League (UNBL) Open Tournament with a 73-56 win over RA-AK Transport at the Bacolod Tay Tung High School Po Hang Gym.

Medo Tosh Sesay spearheaded the offense with 24 points, with 14 coming in the opening half, while Richard Albo contributed 17 markers for the inaugural champions Acster Marketing.

Acster was blazing to start the championship game as they quickly racked up nine straight points but RA-AK had a quick response to force a deadlock at 22-all.

Acster created separation anew late in the second quarter as they dropped a 10-0 scoring blast behind Sesay and tournament MVP Alwyn Alday for a 37-28 advantage at the half.

RA-AK opened the third quarter with a 6-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to 34-37 after a triple by Mark Yee, but Acster regained its shooting touch behind Albo to establish a 55-48 lead.

Acster went for the kill in the fourth quarter with an early 8-0 blast while also pressuring RA-AK on defense as the lead reached its largest at 69-49 with four minutes left in the contest.

Emmanuel Ojuola spearheaded the RA-AK offense with 12 points, Jhan Nermal chipped in 10 markers, while his Bacolod BingoPlus teammate Yee added eight points.

Meanwhile, Supreme ABF/SilverGraces salvaged a bronze medal finish in the inaugural tournament following a lopsided 133-85 domination of Tea Tas/Puff Boss in the battle-for-third place game.

Aside from Alday, who bagged a P10,000 cash prize for his MVP citation, also named as part of the Mythical Five were teammate Sesay, Yee, Renz Solomon of RA-AK, and Landry Sanjo of SilverGraces.

“Although our inaugural tournament was undoubtedly a success, the UNBL will strive to improve in our succeeding tournament,” UNBL President Jun Ballesteros said.

“This tournament was organized to develop the skills of Negrenses by playing against pros,” he added./ASC, WDJ