Michael Calisaan saved the best outing of his young career so far when San Sebastian College-Recoletos needed it the most. With him and Ryan Costelo leaving it all on the line, the Golden Stags managed to escape the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights, 74-69, to advance to the Final Four, Tuesday afternoon at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
This is San Sebastian’s first Final Four appearance since Season 89 while Letran missed the Final Four both for the second time in as many years.
“Deserving ang mga bata, especially sa nilalaro nila ngayon. I think we deserve to be in the Final Four,” said second-year San Sebastian head coach Egay Macaraya, who is celebrating his 56th birthday today. “Hopefully ito na yung start ng medyo magandang character ng San Sebastian. See you in the Final Four!”
Moreover, this is also San Sebastian’s second straight win against Letran after dropping their opening round outing, 79-75, last August 15.
The Golden Stags will next face the JRU Heavy Bombers in the knockout quarterfinals on Friday, October 27 at 3:30pm.
Michael Calisaan upped the ante in this game, dropping a career-high 36 points, spiked by five triples, to go along with 10 rebounds. The 22-year-old’s previous personal-best was 35 points, accomplishing the feat last August 7, 2015.
But Calisaan should thank Ryan Costelo as the explosive guard was unstoppable in the final frame, scoring nine of his 13 points in the last quarter.
“These two guys are my veterans, siguro naman pinakita nila sa laro,” Macaraya said.
With the game knotted at 69-all, Costelo, who is in his fourth year, split his two defenders, knocking down a high-arching floater with 44.9 ticks remaining to give San Sebastian the lead. A missed triple by Jeo Ambhot led to Calisaan’s fifth three of the game with 18.3 second left to seal the win.
“Well, ang problema lang kasi namin sa Baste, one of our concerns is wala kaming import and medyo maliit talaga kami. But hindi matanggal ang puso nila, ang character, ang desire to win na makapasok sa Final Four. They deserve it right now,” beamed Macaraya.
Behind Jeremiah Taladua, Letran led by as much as nine points, 48-39, in the third frame. Taladua, a transferee from Lyceum, finished with a team-high 16 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
Bong Quinto filled up the statsheet with 15 points, 11 rebounds, and seven dimes, while JP Calvo chipped in 11 markers.
Rey Nambatac though disappointed in his final game for the Knights, figuring into foul trouble for most of the game to finish with just 11 points and committing five turnovers.
In addition, the Knights shot a nightmarish 18-for-33 from the foul stripe.
The Scores:
SSC-R 74 – Calisaan 36, Costelo 13, Ilagan 6, Navarro 6, Valdez 4, David 3, Gayosa 3, Bulanadi 2, Baetiong 1, Calma 0, Capobres 0, Mercado 0
CSJL 69 – Taladua 16, Quinto 15, Calvo 11, Nambatac 11, Vacaro 8, Ambohot 3, Balanza 3, Balagasay 2, Mandreza 0, Gedaria 0
Quarterscores: 18-16, 32-30, 53-54, 74-69.
