San Sebastian College rallied from 19 points down to beat over Lyceum of the Philippines University, 73-71, and gain a huge Final Four boost in the 95th NCAA men’s basketball tournament Tuesday at The Arena in San Juan City.
Rommel Calahat drilled in a quick basket off an Allyn Bulanadi inbound to shatter the game’s final deadlock at 71-71, with 5.2 seconds remaining.
Calahat then preserved his heroics with a defensive stop on a driving Reymar Caduyac that sealed the deal for the Stags.
“Malaking bagay sa amin ito dahil we are fighting for the last spot in the Final Four,” said coach Egay Macaraya after San Sebastian rose to 9-6.
Bulanadi had 28 points, seven rebounds and two assists while RK Ilagan added 11 points for the Stags.
The defeat, the fourth in 16 matches, derailed the Pirates’ bid of securing the No. 2 ranking in the Final Four. LPU is holding a two-game lead over third-running Letran.
Earlier, College of Saint Benilde snapped a six-game losing skid with a 62-56 victory over Emilio Aguinaldo College to keep whatever left of its Final Four hopes.
“At least we got back to our winning ways. We’ve been preaching that whatever happens, we win or we learn,” said Blazers coach TY Tang.
St. Benilde, which went winless in a span of 38 days after picking up a 74-66 win over Jose Rizal University way back last Aug. 30, moved in a tie with idle Mapua in fifth place at 7-8.
Yankie Haruna came through with 16 points, including a key basket in the final 48.2 seconds that gave the Blazers a 60-56 buffer, nine rebounds and two steals while Justin Gutang, who had to come off the bench as he was suffering from flu, tallied 12 points, six rebounds and two assists.
St. Benilde will next face San Beda tomorrow, facing a gargantuan task of foiling its foes from moving closer in claiming an outright Finals berth.
For the Blazers, is all about fighting for survival.
“Di ko alam right now, we’re in a blur with our situation, but we’re just going to keep on fighting,” said Tang.
The scores:
First Game
CSB 62 – Haruna 16, Gutang 12, Dixon 7, Carlos 6, Nayve 6, Flores 5, Naboa 3, Belgica 2, Lim 2, Mosqueda 2, Sangco 1, Young 0.
EAC 56 – Maguliano 12, Taywan 11, Luciano 11, Gurtiza 10, Mendoza 8, De Guzman 2, Boffa 2, Carlos 0, Estacio 0, Cadua 0, Gonzales 0, Dayrit 0, Corilla 0, Martin 0.
Quarters: 13-14, 31-32, 52-44, 62-56.
Second Game
SSC-R 73 – Bulanadi 28, Ilagan 11, Capobres 9, Calma 7, Villapando 7, Calahat 7, Tero 2, Loristo 2, Sumoda 0, Desoyo 0, Altamirano 0, Isidro 0.
LPU 71 – JC. Marcelino 21, Nzeusseu 16, Santos 9, Caduyac 7, JV. Marcelino 5, Tansingco 5, Ibañez 3, Navarro 3, Valdez 2, David 0, Yong 0, Pretta 0, Guinto 0.
Quarters: 11-26, 33-43, 50-53, 73-71.
