A THUNDEROUS dunk from 6-foot-6 Fil-Am Jalen Green over 7-foot-2 Kai Sotto highlighted the action-packed third day of the 2019 Chooks-to-Go NBTC League National Finals presented by SM on Wednesday night.
Green's one-handed sledgehammer over Sotto was the crowning moment of FilAm Sports USA's emphatic 90-67 victory over Ateneo-Quezon City in the Supreme 16 phase of the tournament at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The US team advanced to the Fantastic 8 and inched closer to its goal of winning the national championship for high school presented by Chooks-to-Go, Darlington-Exped Socks, EPSON, Huawei, Freego, Purefoods, Gatorade, Go for Gold, SM, Molten, and presented by 5Plus and Lighthouse Events.
The 17-year-old Green got the better of the Blue Eaglets' towering teen early in the second quarter as he drove baseline, met his defender at the rim, and delivered the vicious slam. He finished with a game-high 31 points and collected six rebounds, nine assists, and three steals.
"I thought we played really well. We came out with energy. We didn’t have that in the first two games," Green said.
Aside from Green, forward Kai Ballungay also showcased his hops to end up with 16 points and nine boards for FilAm Sports, which shot 45 percent from the field while forcing Ateneo to 28 turnovers.
"We’re glad to have at least one [win] under our belt against Metro Manila teams," beamed FilAm Sports coach Bong Ulep. "We already know coming here that they’re the teams to beat in the tournament so we’re just glad the guys started to play together."
"We came out and actually played hard from the jump. We played defense. We held them to [67 points]. We were playing together and offense was flowing well," Green added after a game where his team led by as much as 32 points.
USA now awaits the winner of the match between San Beda-Manila and Southern Philippine Colleges-Cagayan de Oro for its Fantastic 8 assignment.
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