Lyceum’s Bulawan slam dunk champ; Letran’s Cruz wins 3-point crown

MANILA, Philippines – Jebb Bulawan and Mark Cruz shined the brightest in the NCAA All-Star festivity’s side contests on Friday, August 21, at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

Bulawan, 6-foot-4 sophomore forward of the Lyceum Pirates, edged Yankie Haruna of College of Saint Benilde to become NCAA’s slam dunk champion.

Both men were knotted at 29 in the first round of the final face-off, but Bulawan earned a perfect 30 score by leaping over his teammates Shaq Alanes and Joseph Gabayni.

A Team-B player for the Green Blazers who was born in Iloilo but grew up in New Jersey, Haruna was the early favorite to win the slam dunk contest as he executed a double clutch behind-the-back slam and a jaw-dropping windmill dunk in the elimination round.

Haruna sent the crowd into a frenzy by jumping over 6-foot-6 Benildean center Jeffrey Ongteco in the finals, but he failed to convert his between-the-legs dunk in his last try to seal the victory.

Cruz, for his part, outlasted 9 other ace gunslingers to bring home the 3-point shootout trophy.

Cruz, a graduating point guard of the Letran Knights, tallied with 18 markers in the final round to defeat Lyceum’s Wilson Baltazar, who registered 9 of his 25 beyond-the-arc shot efforts.

The 5-foot-5 court general finished strong in the elimination phase with 26 points, and it was followed by Baltazar, who had 22 baskets to face Cruz in the deciding shootout stage.

Saint Benilde’s Travis Jonson ended his reign in the competition after falling short in the first round with just 21 points. – Rappler.com