After suffering an embarrassing loss to the same team just 34 days ago, the San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags were able to get back at the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, 78-67 , Friday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Last August 3, the Generals were able to stun the Golden Stags, 79-77, in overtime to pick up their first win in the NCAA Season 94 Seniors Basketball Tournament.
“The boys played good defense talaga. At least nakabawi kami sa huling pagkatalo namin sa EAC,” third-year San Sebastian head coach Egay Macaraya exhaled in relief.
This is San Sebastian’s first win with RK Ilagan in the lineup. The third-year guard was the reason why the Golden Stags forfeited their first two wins of the season, before he was suspended for the last five games of the first round by the school. Ilagan returned to the lineup last Tuesday in San Sebastian’s 70-88 loss to the Lyceum Pirates.
Behind the duo of Michael Calisaan and RK Ilagan, the Golden Stags surged in the final frame to pin the Generals down.
“Hopefully this will be a good start at maka-recover na kami. Nakuha na namin yung confidence. Maganda yung defense ng mga bata ngayon,” added Macaraya, a champion coach in NAASCU.
Down 50-52 early in the final frame, Calisaan took it upon himself to provide the energy for his team. The graduating senior sparked a 15-0 run to turn things around and give San Sebastian a 65-52 lead with 5:42 run.
Calisaan had 15 points and seven rebounds. Ilagan, who put on the finishing touches, scored 16 points.
“Wala naman nagbago sa amin. Nagtutulungan pa rin kami at nag-uusap kami para iangat ang isa’t isa,” expressed Ilagan.
With the win, San Sebastian lift their slate to 2-9. And Macaraya is hoping that this becomes the starting point for the team’s resurgence.
“We need to win more games and bigyan ng more confidence yung mga bata. Maaga pa pero it will be a good learning experience for the next season,” said Macaraya.
EAC, on the other hand, dropped to 2-8.
Jerome Garcia scored a game-high 23 points, spiked by five triples.
Hamadou Laminou finished with a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. JP Maguliano – who had 30 points on 11-for-16 shooting to go along with 17 rebounds during their first round outing – tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds.
San Sebastian will next face the CSB Blazers on Tuesday, September 11. EAC will have a tough task in its next outing as it takes on the Lyceum Pirates on Thursday, September 13.
The Scores:
SSC-R 78 – Ilagan 16, Calisaan 15, Capobres 14, Bulanadi 12, Dela Cruz 11, Calma 6, Sumoda 4, Valdez 0, Are 0, Desoyo 0, Isidro 0, Villapando 0
EAC 67 – Garcia 23, Laminou 13, Maguliano 11, Bautista 8, Mendoza 6, Gonzales 4, Natividad 2, Cruz 0, Corilla 0, Cadua 0, Diego 0, Neri 0, Bugarin 0
Quarterscores: 12-14, 33-26, 50-52, 78-67
