San Sebastian, Arellano grab early NCAA lead

San Sebastian and guest team Arellano U defeated their rivals on Wednesday to take the early lead in the NCAA seniors basketball tournament and boost their respective images.

The Stags defeated defending champion San Beda, 83-77, at The Arena in San Juan City to cement their image as a title contender while the Chiefs downed Letran, 81-73, to prove they can play with the big boys.

Arellano, which dominated its fellow guest team Emilio Aguinaldo College in its opening match, 80-62, created a stir with its upset of perennial Final Four contender Letran.

"I didn't expect this. It was good that we were able to post a big lead, I was afraid na kakapusin kami," said Arellano coach Junjie Ablan, whose wards posted a 20-point lead in the first period that cushioned Letran's fierce rally down the stretch.

"We also focused on keeping (Knights’ top gun RJ) Jazul out of the match so that we can get the rhythm out of their game. It worked for us," Ablan added.

Ablan added that they were able to surprise the Knights with their 2-2-1 defense, adding that Letran's pathetic outside shooting made their defense work. "Kung pumapasok ang tira nila, kawawa ang depensa namin."

Meanwhile, with San Sebastian playing their game plan to the hilt, the Stags pierced San Beda's armor and handed the much-favored Red Lions’ first defeat.

"We were able to execute our game plan," said rookie coach Ato Agustin after the Stags gained the provisional leadership with their second win in as many outings.

Agustin's boys likewise showed that their victories over San Beda during the pre-season were no fluke as they downed the Red Lions again, this time with the stakes even higher.

But the road to victory wasn't easy for the Stags, who were lagging behind the Red Lions majority of the match.

"I told the boys that we have a 3-1 head-to-head slate against San Beda and I want to keep our winning streak against them," Agustin said.

With that in mind, the Stags, with Jimbo Aquino leading the way, took the lead at 58-57.

San Beda then regained the upper hand after several exchanges that saw the Red Lions leading by as much as 66-60. But Aquino hit three straight three-point shots to keep the Stags in the game then Edward Semira added another triple to give San Sebastian a 78-73 advantage.

Another trey by Aquino pushed San Sebastian to an 81-77 lead with less than a minute to play.

"Our big men were consciously bringing Daniel out of the shaded area," Agustin said, referring to the Lions’ 6’8" American center Sudan Daniel, who could only manage five shots and made four of them to finish with just 11 points.

"That was the game plan, to secure the perimeter. And it worked for us," he added.

That strategy helped the Stags beat the taller Red Lions in the rebounding department as they grabbed 21 offensive rebounds against San Beda's 19. The Stags also have more defensive rebounds, 31, compared to San Beda's 27.

Because of the upset victory, Agustin believes that his wards gained a certain degree of confidence.

“I’m not saying that we have already entered the Final Four. All I’m saying is that this victory provided us with the confidence needed for the long season ahead of us," Agustin stated.

Bam Bam Gamalinda, Jake Pascual and Garvo Lanete fired 15, 14 and 13 points, respectively, but couldn’t prevent the Lions from absorbing their first loss following an 85-52 rout of the Mapua Cardinals in Saturday’s opener.

Rookie Ian Sangalang, a 6’11 bean pole who is a former RP youth standout, and Gilbert Bulawan combined for 26 points, 24 boards and four blocks for San Sebastian while helping contain Daniel, who had 13 points, nine caroms and five blocks in San Beda’s first win.

In juniors' action, San Beda walloped four-peat champion San Sebastian, 78-56, and Letran smashed guest team Arellano U, 105-76, to seize a share of the lead with two wins apiece.

– Perry Legaspi,
GMANews.TV