Bulanadi lifts severely short-handed Baste past Letran in OT

Without their head coach and with six players fouling out, the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags dug deep, picking up a huge 102-101 overtime win over the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights, Tuesday afternoon.

And it was all thanks to Allyn Bulanadi and Ken Villapando.

Up 101-100, Jerrick Balanza tried to go for the kill shot but badly missed. Allyn Bulanadi and Ken Villapando ran like there was no tomorrow on the break. A perfect bullet by Bulanadi led to a Villapando layup with 18.5 seconds left.

“Mas gutom yung mga batang manalo eh,” said San Sebastian lead assistant coach Melo Banua, who took charge for the Stags while Egay Macaraya served a one-game suspension.

On the other end, Fran Yu and Bonbon Batiller had good looks from downtown but missed.

San Sebastian snapped their three-game skid in the NCAA Season 95 Seniors Basketball Tournament to go up to 3-3.

Bulanadi had 21 points for San Sebastian while Villapando added six markers.

“Buti nag-step up sila Allyn at Ken,” expressed Banua.

It was a character-building win for San Sebastian as they were called for 43 fouls that led to six players fouling out. RK Ilagan (22 points, seven assists), Arjan Dela Cruz (nine points), JM Calma (seven points, six rebounds), Alex Desoyo (four points), Anmar Cosari (three points), and Gelo Loristo all fouled out.

Larry Muyang, who forced overtime by knocking down two free throws with 16.1 seconds left, ahd 32 points on 10-of-12 shooting to go along with 18 rebounds and two blocks.

Jerrick Balanza added 21 points while Fran Yu scattered 13 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and three steals for Letran, who dropped to 5-3.

San Sebastian will next face the Perpetual Altas on Friday August 23 at 2:00 pm. Letran, on the other hand, play their final game of the round Tuesday, August 27 against the CSB Blazers.

The Scores:

SSC-R 102 – Ilagan 22, Bulanadi 21, Capobres 19, Calahat 9, Dela Cruz 9, Calma 7, Villapando 6, Desoyo 4, Cosari 3, Tero 2, Altamirano 0, Sumoda 0, Loristo 0.

CSJL 101 – Muyang 32, Balanza 21, Yu 13, Caralipio 9, Batiller 7, Ular 6, Olivario 5, Reyson 4, Ambohot 3, Javillonar 1, Mina 0, Sangalang 0, Guarino 0.

Quarterscores: 28-18, 46-36, 69-64, 91-91, 102-101.