INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines -- San Sebastian College-Recoletos shrugged off a lethargic start to post a convincing 65-48 victory over College of St. Benilde Friday in the NCAA men's basketball tournament at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

Jim Viray scored 15 points, while Jason Ballesteros hauled a personal season-high of 19 rebounds and blocked four shots to power the Stags to their third win in seven games.

"Our zone defense was good," said Stags coach Jorge Gallent. "This is a good way to end the first round because we are still near a Final Four slot."

The Blazers held the Stags to just 11 points in the first quarter, but they couldn't get their offense going in the next three periods with the Stags altering their defense from zone to the full-court press to zone again.

The Stags, on the other hand, were hitting their stride as Viray and Raymund Maconocido combined for 11 in the third quarter to spark the breakaway, 50-33.

Only Jeff Morial was the lone Blazer in double-figures with 22 points, most of which in the second half when the Stags were already beyond recall.

The Scores:

SSC 65 -- Viray 15, Maconocido 13, Del Rio 7, Ballesteros 7, Aquino 6, Saquillo 5, Najorda 4, Bulawan 4, Delgado 3, Raymundo 1, Semira 0, Bartolo 0, Taha 0.

St. Benilde 48 -- Morial 22, Posadas 5, Manalac 4, Dalanon 4, Manlapaz 3, Johnston 3, Abolucion 2, David 2, Sevilla 2, Wong 1.

Quarters: 11-11, 32-24, 50-33, 65-48