Vyn Radovan | FCF
San Sebastian College staves off De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s late-game rally to eke out a 74-72 win in Friday’s 90th National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors basketball action at The Arena in San Juan City.
The Stags, led by veteran guard Jovit De La Cruz’s 16 points and rookie Rhanzel Yong’s 16 points and eight rebounds, nearly squandered their 11 point lead after the third period with their ice-cold shooting in the last 10 minutes — including a zero field goal output in the last five minutes of the contest.
“[In the last timeout,] we talked about it. It’s either we go to overtime or none. We took away the three-point shot, which is [where] Grey hit it big and we know he could hit it again. If we’re going to lose, we’re going to lose inside rather than them hitting the game winner,” said Robinson.
The team’s fourth year mentor specifically asked for his team to pound the ball inside the shaded lane in order to punish the Blazers’ thin frontline that only had Robert Bartolo as its true pivot man.
“We really went for the high-percentage shots, [where] we capitalized on our bigs. We had Bradwyn [Guinto] dominating the paint and we have guards that could really attack the paint. Shooting outside shots will propel their [Benilde’s] transition, so we just played it safe and played [in] our pace. We’re just blessed to get this win,” added Robinson.
The six-foot-five Orani, Bataan native Guinto, who moved back to the country two years ago after spending most of his life in Melbourne, Australia, scored 13 points, grabbed 14 rebounds with two shot blocks. The result gives the Stags their third win in four contests.
Mark Romero contributed 17 points, five rebounds and six assists in Benilde’s third straight loss in as many contests, while Ralph Nayve finished with a breakout performance of 13 points.
Meanwhile, Earl Thompson achieved his first career triple-double in University of Perpetual Help’s 73-65 win over Emilio Aguinaldo College in the second seniors division match, also on Friday.
The Davao-native dynamo amounted for the team’s 15 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists – the first triple-double performance in the NCAA since Calvin Abueva achieved a 21-20-10 feat in their 77-62 win over Mapúa back in September 10, 2012.
The Altas pulled away in the second, outscoring the Generals on a 23-7 blast on the combined efforts of Juneric Baloria, Harold Arboleda, and Thompson to put a 15-point distance by halftime – enough to stave off EAC’s on-and-off second-half rally.
“Andoon ‘yung puso nila, kasi sinasabi ko na ‘yung team ko hindi malakas. Ibig sabihin, ‘yung puso nila gusto manalo talaga. ‘Yung teamwork, pasahan doon kami lamang sa ibang team,” said veteran mentor Aric Del Rosario.
Guard Jan Jamon scored 15 points, while Cedric Noube Happi added 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Generals, sliding to 1-2 for the tournament.
