THE San Sebastian Stags relied on their outside shooting and presence under the boards in the second and third quarters to trounce the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers, 85-73, yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Regille Ilagan unloaded 15 of 21 points in the second part allowing the Stags to take command at halftime, and move a win closer to the second finals slot in the 93rd National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) stepladder semifinal playoffs.
Ilagan, who connected on five of seven three-point attempts, unloaded a couple of treys in the last 59 seconds of the second half, allowing the Stags to claim a 41-34 halftime edge.
Allyn Bulanadi had 13 points with Michael Calisaan, with his rebound and three-point play with 6:49 to go, sending the Stags to an eight point lead, 49-41.
Calisaan, who had eight rebounds, struck with nine points in the third during a decisive 22-0 blast that handed the Stags a 71-43 spread with seven ticks left.
“Dinala namin sa sipag, bilis at hustle. And that is what happened in the third quarter,” said Stags coach Egay Macaraya as they get ready to meet no. 2 San Beda on Nov. 7.
Jed Mendoza made 20 points for JRU.
In the junior division, Will Gozum made his imposing presence felt in the closings minutes, with his big plays propelling the defending champion Malayan Red Robins to the finals with an 82-80 win over the Letran Squires.
La Salle Greenhills banked on a season-high 17 triples, Joel Cagulangan’s 27 points and Inand Fornillos inside plays to stop the second seed San Beda Red Cubs, 83-72, and force a rubber match for the second finals slot.
The 6’5” Gozum sank a game-high 24 points, with his two baskets underneath and defensive play off Neil Tolentino handing the Red Robins their second straight championship appearance.
Gozum’s layup off Carl Lacap’s pass in the remaining 48.2 seconds lifted the Red Robins who took the lead for good, 79-78.
After Lacap intercepted a Neil Guarino’s pass, Gozum scored on a putback off Lacap’s miss in the last 14.4 seconds to give the Red Robins a three-point cushion, 81-78
Gozum then got an unsportsmanlike foul in his effort to stop Tolentino underneath in the last two seconds.
As Mike Enriquez knocked in one charity off Lakksman Ganapathy’s fifth foul, 82-78, in the same play, the Squires bungled a chance to keep up when they managed to convert only one of three charity tries.
“Credit sa mga bata. Nagpo-post kami. Dumating iyung sa endgame na kailangan naming makuha iyung composure, iyung focus. Dun kami siguro mas lamang,” said Red Robins coach Randy Alcantara.
The Greenies engaged the Red Cubs in a three-point shootout till the last seven minutes. That’s when Fornilos asserted his will during a 10-0 run when he scored six points to put LSGH ahead, 61-51, in the last 4:04.
Triples from Cagulangan and Jacob Lao in the last 1:04 then allowed LSGH to take control, 67-55.
“We were able to break away. But it was a semi-breakaway because San Beda is always deadly,” said LSGH coach Marvin Bienvenida.
It was the second straight knockout win by San Sebastian after it survived Letran, 74-69, Tuesday.
And now the Stags would need to engage into another one as they face the San Beda Lions, the defending champions and second seeds, on Nov. 7 at the same venue.
The winner of that knockout duel advances to the best-of-three finale against Lyceum, which swept its way straight to the finals in 18 games, unfolding on Nov. 10.