RR Garcia claims MVP honors in Master Gameface Challenge

FEU guard RR Garcia of Team Borgie makes his move against Letran guard Mark Cruz of Team Chris in the Master Gameface All-Star Challenge. (FCF / Vyn Radovan)

(UPDATED) Despite Chris Tiu’s wards leading through most of the way, it was Borgie Hermida’s squad that got the last laugh.

In a very tightly contested second half, RR Garcia stole the show in the first-ever Master Game Face Collegiate All-Star Basketball Challenge at The Arena in San Juan on Saturday.

Garcia, who claimed MVP honors with 22 points, five rebounds, and four steals, led Team Borgie’s squad to victory over Team Chris, 89-88.

Bobby Ray Parks, who was among the starters voted by fans through the Master Philippines Facebook page and is part of the National U squad appearing in both Father Martin’s Cup Summer League and Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Cup finals, played through numerous injuries and posted 14 points, five rebounds, and three assists.

Members of Team Borgie included FEU’s Garcia and Mike Tolomia, NU’s Parks, Emmanuel Mbe, and  Kyle Neypes, San Beda’s Rome Dela Rosa, David Semerad, Baser Amer, Ola Adeogun, and Kyle Pascual, Arellano’s John Pinto, UP’s Andrei Paras, Joseph Marata and Henry Asilum, and EAC’s Jan Jamon.

AU guard James Forrester and FEU’s Carl Cruz both sat out of the match due to injuries.

Garcia not only connected on big baskets, including a trey that cut down Team Chris’ lead to one with under a minute to play, but also created a huge defensive stop by getting a steal that led to a Parks layup to decide the final scoreline.

Kiefer Ravena, who was held to just six points in 16 minutes of action, made a last ditch effort for Team Chris by throwing up a desperation three-pointer off a broken play that just went long.

Kevin Ferrer scored 12 points to lead all scorers from Team Chris, who are composed of players from squads clustered in Group B of this year’s Pre-Season Premier Cup tourney including Ateneo, La Salle, UST, Letran, Adamson, and finalist UE.

Controversial rookie Jerie Pingoy of Ateneo heralded Team Chris’ lineup, which featured UST’s Ferrer, Karim Abdul, Aljon Mariano, and Jeric Teng, Adamson’s Roider Cabrera and Jericho Cruz, De La Salle’s Norbert Torres, Jeron Teng, Jason Perkins, Arnold Van Opstal, and rookie Kib Montalbo, Ateneo’s Ravena, Chris Newsome, and Juami Tiongson, Letran’s Mark Cruz and Raymond Almazan, and UE’s Roi Sumang.