Asi Taulava being introduced prior to the tipoff of the “Built Upon The Rock” charity basketball game. (FullCourtFresh.com / Jenner Ong)

Raymundo scores game winner, as Team Blackwater edges Team Swatch

In the wake of the devastating monsoon rains that hit the country, PBA player Asi Taulava immediately put out through the social networking site Twitter an idea of putting together a charity game that would benefit the victims of the near-weeklong downpour of rains in the Metro Manila and surrounding areas.

Three weeks passed, and his plan came to fruition with the help of various sponsors and friends in both the PBA and the entertainment industries.

Dubbed “Built Upon The Rock,” the fund-raising event featured not only the basketball game but also numerous side performances by fellow PBA player and rapper Alex Crisano, Assunta de Rossi, Valerie Concepcion, among many others.

Team Blackwater, led by PBA stalwarts Kerby Raymundo and playing-coach Jimmy Alapag, bested the Asi Taulava-led Team Swatch in the main event by a count of 125-124 on Raymundo’s undergoal stab with 0.5 seconds left in the game.

Mallari, the third overall pick by Petron Blaze in the 2012 PBA Rookie Draft, topped all Team Blackwater scorers with 14. He came alive in the fourth quarter, scoring 8 points and completing a crucial steal that led to the Raymundo bucket during the late stages of the ballgame.

Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel teammates Kerby Raymundo and Allein Maliksi each added 12 apiece, while Marcio Lassiter, Ronald Tubid, and model John Hall totalled for 10 points each for Team Blackwater.

On the other end, Dylan Ababou led Team Swatch with 15 points in a losing cause.

Before counting the proceeds from sponsors, tickets, and the in-event auctions, the event had already collected a total of Php 600,000.

Among those auctioned off during the event were game-worn jerseys by Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel’s Dylan Ababou (sold for Php 2,000), Petron Blaze’s Arwind Santos (sold for Php 1,800), Talk ‘N Text’s Kelly Williams (sold for Php 1,500), Meralco’s Chris Ross (sold for Php 1,150), and Petron Blaze’s Denok Miranda (sold for Php 1,100).

Also, a game-used ball in the first-half fetched a whopping Php 50,000.

Other notable celebrity participants in the event included celebrity doctor Hayden Kho, Eric Tai, Carlos Agassi, Matteo Gudicelli, Marco Alcaraz, Billy Crawford, and Derek Ramsey.

During the event, Fullcourtfresh.com’s chief photographer Jenner Ong captured the moments that transpired during “Built Upon The Rock.”

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