After suffering two close defeats at the hands of Lyceum and Perpetual, the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags were able to regroup and take a 75-66 wire-to-wire win over the Mapua University Cardinals, Friday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The Stags had early difficulties due to the team struggling to field in a complete line-up during practice, as they were not able to field Jerick Fabian for the season, while Ryan Costelo and Alvin Capobres started the season with minor injuries.
“Honestly talaga, never pa kaming nakapaglaro ng kumpleto kami. Yung absence ni Fabian at ni Ryan and si Capobres pa. Pero sana maging healthy na kami at makapag-prepare na kami for any teams na makakalaban namin,” said second-year San Sebastian head coach Egay Macaraya.
With the win, San Sebastian climb to a 2-3 slate, tied with Arellano, Perpetual, and JRU in the standings. Mapua, on the other hand, fell to 1-4.
“Finally, the boys played well. Kita naman natin na medyo kahit mahirap, mahirap kasi pag galing sa talo, the boys did the right thing,” Macaraya declared.
It was not only a bounce-back game for San Sebastian, but also for Bulanadi. After going a horrid 4-for-20 from the field against Perpetual last Tuesday, the 20-year-old finished with 18 points on 7-for-13 shooting, spiked by four triples.
After leading by as much as 14 points in the third frame, the undermanned Mapua squad was able to cut the lead down to just seven, 66-73, after a triple by Andrew Estrella and free throws by Christian Bunag with 24.4 seconds remaining. But Costelo stopped the attempted comeback by knocking down two clutch free throws.
The backcourt of Costelo and RK Ilagan added 10 points each.
Estrella finished the game by setting his career-high with 27 points. Bunag grabbed 17 rebounds and scored nine markers in the loss.
San Sebastian hope to build on this win when they face the Saint Benilde Blazers next on Friday, August 11, at 2:00pm. Mapua, on the other hand, take on the same team on Tuesday, August 8, at 2:00pm.
The Scores:
SSC-R 75 – Bulanadi 18, Costelo 10, Ilagan 10, Calisaan 8, Gayosa 8, David 7, Calma 6, Baetiong 5, Navarro 3, Quipse 0, Mercado 0, Are 0, Capobres 0, Valdez 0.
MU 66 – Estrella 27, Bunag 9, Aguirre 9, Raflores 8, Gabo 7, Nieles 3, Jimenez 2, Victoria 1, Orquina 0.
Quarterscores: 14-5, 28-25, 54-42, 75-66
