San Sebastian pulls off a squeaker over St. Benilde; Mapua ties JRU for 3rd spot with fourth win over EAC

San Sebastian paid dearly for its experimentation as it survived an uspet-conscious St. Benilde, 75-74, wednesday to seize the solo lead in the 86th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

The decision to spread the minutes to everyone nearly took its toll on the Stags, who led by as much as 17 points in the third quarter, as they needed to survive a late surge by the Blazers to preserve the win, their sixth straight to overtake the idle San Beda Lions (5-0) on top.

Anthony del Rio’s foul shot helped stave off a spirited fight back by the Blazers, who fought their way back from a 51-78 midway in the final canto but ended up short.

“We were giving our other players a chance because I’m trying to rest my veterans, they were a little bit spent in our last game,” said San Sebastian coach Ato Agustin, whose charges had to fend off a fighting Jose Rizal to carve out a 72-59 win Friday.

Skipper John Raymundo, Calvin Abueva and Ronald Pascual still led their team with 12, 12 and 10 points, respectively, despite playing minimal minutes.

Carlo Lastimosa, nephew of former PBA star Jojo, led all scorers with 20 points but fouled out in the stretch while Mark de Guzman an Mc Abolucion chipped in 13 and 10 points but lost team in stretches bridging the last two quarters when the Stags built their 17-point cushion.

CSB fell to its fourth defeat against a win.

In juniors’ action, CSB humbled San Sebastian, 71-65, to seize solo second place with a 3-1 slate.



Mapua, for its part, leaned on Rodolfo Alejandro’s 31-point explosion as it walloped EAC, 88-74, to improve to 3-3. The Staglets and the Brigadiers fell to 3-3 and 1-4 records, respectively.

San Sebastian also gifted Agustin fitting present as the former PBA MVP celebrated his 47th birthday Sunday.

In the other game, Mapua outlasted Emilio Aguinaldo, 82-68, to jump into a share of third spot with Jose Rizal on 4-2 record.

The Generals fell to their fourth setback against a win.

The scores:

Third Game (srs)
San Sebastian 75 - Raymundo 12, Abueva 12, Pascual 10, del Rio 8, Bulawan 7, Semira 6, E. Gatchalian 6, Sangalang 4, Maconocido 4, Gorospe 2, dela Cruz 2, Maiquez 2, J. Gatchalian 0, Najorda 0
CSB 74 - Lastimosa 20, de Guzman 13, Abolucion 10, dela Paz 7, McCoy 7, Wong 6, Nayve 5, Manalac 4, Argamino 1, Sinco 1,Tan 0
Quarterscores: 22-21; 45-39; 62-53; 75-74

Fourth Game (srs)
Mapua 82 - Acosta 14, Ranises 13, Cornejo 11,Banal 9, Sarangay 8, Guillermo 8, Parala 8, Mangahas 6, Pascual 5, Cabrera 0, Stevens 0
EAC 68 - Mendoza 23, Vargas 15, Cubo 10, Chiong 7, Santos 5, L. Yaya 4, Lapitan 2, Jamon 2, R. Yaya 0, Tuazon 0, Monteclaro 0, Diolanto 0
Quarterscores: 10-10; 29-27; 53-48; 82-68