San Sebastian College-Recoletos survived Mapua University in a thrilling 57-56 victory in the NCAA Season 98 Seniors Basketball Tournament on Sunday afternoon at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
With the Golden Stags up 57-53 with a full minute remaining, Juaqui Garcia buried a triple to cut the lead down to one.
Mapua had numerous chances to steal the game afterward.
A turnover by Rommel Calahat led to two free throws for Toby Agustin. However, the former UST Growling Tiger muffed both of his freebies with 27 seconds left.
With eight seconds left, Kenneth Villapando’s inbound pass was tapped by Warren Bonifacio that led to a fastbreak attempt. However, Garcia’s three-pointer from the right elbow was short as San Sebastian ran away with the victory.
“First of all sa Mapua, alam naman natin credit din natin sa Mapua,” said Golden Stags head coach Egay Macaraya. “They’ve been playing good defese also – as we do.
“Tapos, breaks of the game lahat kami lang ang nanalo, but credit to the boys hindi nag give up. And, we did our best to win this game para maka-bounce back dun sa talo namin,” added Macaraya as they were coming off a 100-94 loss to Saint Benilde last Friday.
Rommel Calahat tallied 17 points and 17 rebounds, leading the way for San Sebastian, who went up to 2-1 to tie Lyceum at third and fourth.
Villapando got eight rebounds, seven points, and two blocks to support Calahat while Jessie Sumoda also added seven points.
Team captain Itchie Altamirano went scoreless in 15 minutes of gametime while committing six turnovers before fouling out late.
It was a heartbreaking loss for the shorthanded Cardinals, who lost Paolo Hernandez in the first quarter due to an ankle sprain and did not have Brian Lacap due to an injury he sustained in practice.
Mapua was up 42-34 midway through the third canto before the Golden Stags came alive.
Adrian Nocum paced the Cardinals with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals while Arvin Gamboa added 12 markers.
The Cardinals fell to 1-2 with their sole win being investigated by the NCAA after fielding an ineligible player.
San Sebastian will go up against San Beda University on Wednesday at 12 noon. On the other hand, Mapua will look to bounce back against University of Perpetual Help Syetem DALTA on Friday at 3 PM.
The Scores:
San Sebastian (57) – Calahat 17, Sumoda 7, Villapando 7, Una 6, Desoyo 5, Shanoda 5, Escobido 4, Felebrico 3, Concha 3, Altamirano 0, Cosari 0, Suico 0, Aguilar 0, Are 0.
Mapua (56) – Nocum 15, Gamboa 12, Agustin 9, Garcia 6, Soriano 5, Salenga 4, Pido 3, Bonifacio 2, Cuenco 0, Hernandez 0, Mercado 0, Parinas 0.
Quarterscores: 19-15, 30-32, 42-46, 57-56
