THE Universal College Golden Dragons once again turned to Cedric Matugas as they held off the defending champion Arellano University Chiefs, 71-68, in overtime yesterday to snatch the men’s basketball crown of the 16th National Capital Region Athletic Association at the Technological Institute of the Philippines gym.

The 6’1” Matugas banged in 15 points, 10 of which came in the extra period, included two, game-winning free throws in the last five seconds.

This gave the Golden Dragons their first-ever crown and denied the Leo Isaac-coached Chiefs a three-peat in this varsity cagefest backed by Mikasa and Molten Balls, and www.philspike.com.

“Sobrang proud ako sa mga players ko. Ipinakita nila kung gaano kalaki ang puso nila. Gusto nilang manalo talaga,” said Golden Dragons coach Yong Garcia as his wards finished their best-of-three finals series with the Chiefs with two wins and a loss.

Earlier, the Arellano University Baby Chiefs achieved what their senior counterparts failed to do as they struck hard in the third quarter and put away the Rizal Technological University Baby Thunders, 93-85, to earn their third straight junior crown.

The Chiefs appeared headed for victory at 59-56 with 47 seconds left following a free throw from Orlando Daroya in regulation. But the Golden Dragons refused to fold in the ensuing play, with Alwyn Manalang scoring his own charity and Lester Reyes tying the count at 59-all in the last eight seconds with a putback off Manalang’s bungled second charity attempt.

Matugas scored on a triple and two charities off Adrian Celada’s fifth foul—a technical one—after he made provoking gestures—as the Golden Dragons kept abreast with the Chiefs at 65-all with 2:22 to go. His drive past Jerome Agustin with 51 seconds left pushed the Golden Dragons ahead by three, 69-66, in the final 51 seconds.

Daroya hit 29 points for the Chiefs and his two charities with 42 ticks to go kept Isaac’s wards in the thick of the fight, 68-69.

Most Valuable Player awardee Mike Montilla gave Matugas plenty of help as he led with 21 points, including seven points in the third canto, where the Golden Dragons bounced back from 26-39 deficit.

Kim Pagayunan, who took the junior MVP honors, made a game-high 20 points for the Baby Chiefs, while Erwin Catapang had 15.

Zeus Loja, back from a one-game suspension after he got involved in a bench-clearing incident in Game 1, had 15 points including a trey which later enabled the Baby Chiefs to take a 10-point lead, 65-55, with 2:38 left. Peter Atencio