RK ILAGAN scattered seven three-pointers as San Sebastian College stretched its remarkable winning streak to four, this time beating Lyceum of the Philippines University, 77-69, on Tuesday in Season 92 National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors basketball action at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
With the stigma of a 0-9 record to start the season already a thing of what seemed like a distant past, the Stags are on a roll and with a 5-9 won-lost record, stayed in the hunt for a seat in the Final Four.
“I guess everybody wanted to win and everybody stepped up for us and played defense,” Stags Coach Edgar Macaraya said.
The Stags were 1-9 in one instance this season, but have since rose from the grave and left College of Saint Benilde at the cellar with a winless record.
Ilagan scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half, when the Stags broke loose from a two-point deficit at the half to a 55-47 lead entering the fourth quarter. Trailing by 28-30 at the half, Ilagan drained four treys to push San Sebastian to a 48-38 lead with four minutes left in the third period. They never relinquished the driver’s seat after that. Ilagan buried three more triples in the fourth quarter and held off the Pirates, who could get no closer than 64-70 with two minutes remaining. The Stags were steadier in the game with only eight turnovers to the Pirates’ 23 miscues, enough to offset their 37-rebound game against the 57 boards of their opponents. Jerick Fabian added 12 points and five rebounds for the Stags, while Alvin Capobres and Allyn Bulanadi had 10 points each.
MIke Nzeusseu led Lyceum, which dropped to a 5-8 record, with 24 points and 19 rebounds. But the Cameroonian big man could only draw eight points each from Reymar Caduyac and Aldrin Serafico.
Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC), meanwhile, snapped Jose Rizal University’s (JRU) four-game streak with a controversial 63-60 win to notch its fourth win against nine setbacks. EAC Coach Francis Munsayac challenged Tey Teodoro’s “Hail Mary” shot from way beyond the three-point line with two-tenths of second left in the game. A referee whistled for a foul for a possible game-tying three free throws, but after a review of the video, the call was waived off to the dismay of the Heavy Bombers bench. Sidney Onwubere had an all-around game of 26 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Generals, while Hamadou Laminou had 19 points and 10 boards. Teodoro was limited to eight points in a 19-percent shooting from the field. Mark de la Virgen added 12 points for the Heavy Bombers, who dropped to a 7-6 slate.