For the second straight year, University of Santo Tomas is headed to the 2024 Smart-NBTC National Finals presented by SM Supermalls, while University of the East will be experiencing #MadnessInMOA for the first time ever.
The Growling Tigers and Red Warriors pulled off contrasting wins in the 2024 NBTC Wildcard Tournament semifinals, Saturday at Philsports Arena, to complete the 32-strong cast that will contest the Philippine national under-19 basketball championship from March 18 to 24 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Charles Bucsit had to save the day with a triple to force overtime before JB Lim took over and propelled UST past De La Salle Zobel, 93-87, in a tight tiff that featured 13 lead changes and eight deadlocks.
Lim was on fire all throughout and wound up with 45 points, but it was Bucsit’s timely make in the dying moments of regulation that energized the Tiger Cubs all the way to the extra period where they outscored the Jr. Archers, 12-6.
With the win, UST advanced to the Wildcard Tournament finals to be played later in the day, facing off against UE which took the fight out of San Beda High School, 76-61.
Kristoper Lagat topped the scoring column for the Red Warriors with 20 points, while NBTC All-Star John Alejandro chimed in 13 markers of his own. On the back of those two, the Red Warriors assured themselves of a top two finish in the Wildcard — and as such, will finally be making their debut in the National Finals.
Also booking their ticket by virtue of being finalists of the NCR local qualifier are EZ Jersey x Yurich x Arellano and Eco Green Technology-Makati.
The four squads join UAAP top two Adamson High School and National University-Nazareth School, NCAA semifinalists San Sebastian College-Recoletos and Mapua High School, CESAFI champion Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu, and Regional Championship (RC) qualifiers from North Luzon (Yengskivel Sportswear, Philippine College of Science and Technology-Calasiao, 1 San Rafael, and PPG Tarlac), Mindanao (Toyomoto Auto Supply, Bullet Customs Brokerage-Prime Bistro, Xavier-Ateneo de Cagayan-Sealcor, and Notre Dame of Midsayap), Visayas (Khalifa, UNBL-Don Bosco, Trinity-Davies Paint/El Tzino, and St. Roberts International Academy-Elite Lab), and South Luzon (Batang Tiaong, St. Jude College-Dasmariñas, Philippine Christian University-Dasmariñas, and One Media TV48-Naga).
NBTC global teams, meanwhile, include Fil-Am Nation Select-USA, Crossover-Canada East, Top Flight Sports-Canada West, Homegrown Basketball-Australia, Triple Threat Basketball-New Zealand, FilCom-Italy, and Fil-Euro Nation Select-UK.
SHS-Ateneo, RC semifinalists, and global teams raise the curtain on the tournament also supported by adidas, Molten, Swish NBN23PH, Darlington, and Farm Fresh Dairy on Monday for the seeding round before all 32 teams play on Tuesday in the Super 32, with the winners progressing to Division 1 and the losers moving to Division 2.
From there, the knockout phase begins with the Supreme 16 on Wednesday, the Fantastic Eight on Thursday, and the Fearless Four on Friday. Winners of the semifinals then advance to the Division 1 and 2 championships on Sunday.
The best under-19 players will also strut their stuff in the NBTC All-Star Game on Saturday, where No. 1 and 2-ranked players Jared Bahay (SHS-Ateneo) and Kieffer Alas (DLSZ) will lead Team Heart and Team Hustle, respectively.
Part of #MadnessInMOA as well is the NBTC Coaches Convention from March 21 to 23, and the inaugural Manila Live competitions featuring a girls tournament, as well as U19, U16, and U14 boys tournaments.
