MIGHTY SHOW VS ALTAS
Games Thursday
(The Arena, San Juan City)
12 noon — JRU vs EAC (Jrs.)
2 p.m. — MIT vs CSB (Jrs.)
4 p.m. — JRU vs EAC (Srs.)
6 p.m. — MIT vs CSB (Srs.)
San Sebastian College drew a monster performance from Calvin Abueva as the Stags scuttled University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Altas, 80-65, in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan City yesterday.
Abueva, 6-4 and the reigning most valuable player, poured in 15 points and got as many rebounds to go with 11 assists as he stood at the forefront of the Stags’ mighty offensive in a game between teams that had figured in a sort of rivalry in the late 1980s in the glamor league.
The Altas, who were somewhat inspired by their previous back-to-back wins that included a 69-66 conquest of Letran College last Sunday, were in the game only in first half when they posted a 29-25 lead behind a 13-0 blitz capped by Justine Alano’s free throw with 2:34 left in the second period.
But Ian Sangalang scored seven points while Lyle Antipuesto added a triple as the Stags greeted the Altas with a telling 15-3 scoring binge opening the third quarter which the Las Piñas-based school failed to contain no what they offered.
“We just focused on making stop. We are smarter in taking care of the basketball. I just told the boys to be smart with their shot selections,” said San Sebastian coach Topex Robinson after the Stags’ second straight win in three outings.
The Altas absorbed their first loss after cornering their first two wins.
It was Abueva, too, who gave the Stags their biggest lead in the game at 67-48, on a split free throw with 6:57 remaining in the game.
“We know how deadly Perpetual Help is. We know that their confidence is high. They came from a big win over Letran, so we just have to be composed,” said Robinson.
The Stags also drew big numbers from Sangalang who finished with 23 points and 10 rebounds — his second double-double of the season — while Jovit de la Cruz and Michael Juico added 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Rookie Nosa Omorogbe collected 18 points and nine rebounds. He was also instrumental in putting the Altas to their closest at 61-73 with his nine points in a 9-2 tear.
In the juniors division, reigning titlist San Beda College played virtually unopposed in a 171-14 annihilation of a hapless Lyceum Junior Pirates.
Shooting guard Ranbill Tongco scored 27 points, outscoring the whole Pirates side. San Beda’s 157-point rout shattered the league’s largest winning margin of 145 points, set by the Red Cubs incidentally against Lyceum, 163-28, on July 11, 2011.
