Art Venture put on a spectacular defensive display in the closing minutes to hold down Jazzville-Janzen Kate Technical Services 75-70 and lift the (Season 11 Class D Division) at Al Twar 3 Sports Hall in Dubai.
In the offensive department, Art Venture had multiple heroes led by Final MVP Wang Alvarez with 27 points while Mythical 5 members Jay de Jesus and Joan Santos contributed 14 and 10 markers respectively.
Season MVP Winston Lopez finished with 10 while Daya Surabia made three clutch baskets in the final quarter to douse the rally of Jazzville.
Although it was a close game, Art Venture were ahead from start to finish. They established a five-point advantage, 17-12, after the first 10 minutes and maintained the same lead, 36-31, at the half. They entered the final period still in the driver’s seat, 53-47.
Jazzville had a short run and came within a hairline, 59-58, in the middle of the fourth quarter but Art Venture tightened their watch and implemented a 1-2-2 defence to break the rally.
Art Venture proved steadier down the stretch and made several stops– the most important one was a steal by William Wallace which was converted into basket by Alvarez and gave them a commanding six point lead, 74-68, to seal their victory with 10 seconds left in the game.
“We had a spectacular stretch on defence,” Art Venture coach Chris Zablan told Sport360. “Jazville were trying to wrestle the lead but we held our ground and did not give them the upper hand.”
