MANILA, Philippines -- There are new kings in the Philippine 3x3 basketball scene.

Newcomers Phenom-Basilan Steel completed their Cinderella run in the 2019 Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 Patriot's Cup, outlasting the veteran-laden Wilkins-Balanga Pure, 21-20, in an overtime thriller, Saturday afternoon at the SM Megamall Events Center.

With the result, Basilan punched their ticket to the 2019 FIBA 3x3 Jeddah Masters on October 18-19, and brought home P1 million in cash.

"Wala akong masabi. It couldn't get more exciting as this," said Basilan team manager Jackson Chua. "Ang hirap ng dinaanan namin. No better way to end it."

It was Franky Johnson who emerged as the hero for Basilan in their run to the title.

In the race-to-two extra time period, Basilan was down one after a Karl Dehesa layup.

Showing his veteran wares in the next possession, Troy Rike made a quick hand off to Franky Johnson. The 6-foot-3 guard then danced his way on the right corner, before heaving a fadeaway deuce over the outstretched arms of Karl Dehesa.

"Everything was just moving so fast," recalled Johnson. "I wasn’t even thinking about that shot, but as soon as my teammate got the rebound and got the ball to me, I was just kinda open a little bit so I just decided to pull it.

"Thank God it went in, so I’m really excited about that," he expressed.

Rike said that while the play "didn't come off as cleanly as we wanted," he had full confidence in his teammate.

"I trust Franky, I believe in Franky and he’s one hell of a shooter. So I know that if I give him even an inch of space, I knew he was gonna knock it down," said Rike, who was also a member of the Grindhouse-Pasig squad that took down the President's Cup four months ago.

Johnson had four points in the Million Peso Game, while Rike had one. Marcus Hammonds and Roosevelt Adams had 11 and six points, respectively, for the Steel.

For the second straight conference, the Balanga franchise finished in second place, bringing home P400,000 and a ticket to the 2019 Xiongan Challenger which takes place from August 23-24.

Alvin Pasaol and Travis Franklin paced Balanga with seven points each. Chris De Chavez, who forced overtime with a driving layup with six ticks remaining, and Dehesa added three markers apiece.

In order to get to the last stage of this tournament sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and endorsed by FIBA 3X3, Basilan cruised by Tycoon-Ballers QC, 21-4 (4:28), in the quarterfinals while outlasting Leg Two champs VetHealth-Delhi 3BL in the semis, 21-14 (2:31).

Wilkins-Balanga, on the other hand, survived a heated game against archrivals Gold's Gym-Pasig Kings in the semis, 21-17 (2:55).

The Kings completed the podium, bagging P200,000.

In the side events, VetHealth-Delhi's Kiran Shastri completed a five-leg sweep of the Coca-Cola Two-Point Shootout, while David Carlos and Brodie Stephens were crowned co-champions in the Coca-Cola Slam Dunk Competition.

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