CALVIN Abueva scored on a follow-up for what turned out to be the winning basket, but it was the unheralded Michael Miranda who preserved San Sebastian' heart-stopping 70-68 victory against powerhouse San Beda College yesterday in the 8th National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament in the jampacked Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The 6-5 Miranda, who was scoreless in the 17 minutes that he was on the floor, beat Kyle Pascual to the ball after Red Lion gunner Dave Marcelo missed a desperation try from the three-point with only three seconds left in the game clock.
Miranda outjumped Pascual and swiped the ball out of reach. The ball bounced off the glass as time expired, as the Stags extended their winning streak to nine to grab the solo lead at the close of the first round.
The win denied the Red Lions an opportunity to stretch their two-year winning run to 27.
“I told my players that this is not about the big three (Calvin Abueva, Ronald Pascual and Ian Sangalang. This is about everyone. We know that these three will put their hearts out, but what’s important is the other guys. I believe in them because they are also good players. Maganda nga at nandun si Miranda sa ilalim,” said San Sebastian coach Topex Robinson.
Ronald Pascual led the Stags with 23 points and seven rebounds, Abueva had 21 points and eight boards, and Sangalang added nine points and eight rebounds.
Abueva followed up a miss in the final 2:03 that turned out to be the final basket, as the Red Lions missed four chances in that stretch, including Marcelo's final heave from the trey area.
The Stags also missed a chance to extend the lead after Sangalang missed two charities with 4.4 ticks left, but he bungled two charity shots.
"It all boils down to poor executions. There were two plays down the stretch that were meant for Garvo (Lanete), di nakaabot sa kanya," said Frankie Lim.
San Beda, who drew 18 points from Lanete and 15 from Marcelo, dropped to solo second at 8-1.
In the other seniors game, Letran College bucked a slow start but used its mastery of the boards to outmuscle Jose Rizal University en route to a 70-59 win.
With big men Jam Cortes and Raymond Almazan manning the boards and patrolling the paint, the Knights had little problem getting out of an early 20-20 standoff to a 39-30 spread at the half.
Almazan, who had eight points, was a monster off the boards for Letran, hauling 11 of his game-high 17 boards in the first half, even as Mark Cruz repeatedly scored from the perimeter and scored seven points in the second quarter to keep the Heavy Bombers at bay.
The Knights thus ended their first-round campaign with a 7-2 card and now at solo third.
Source: NCAA Website
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