INQUIRER Sports

ROOKIE RONALD PASCUAL PICKED the right time to shine for San Sebastian yesterday, boosting the Stags past the Letran Knights, 77-74, to complete a first-round sweep of the NCAA tournament at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

With chief gunner Jimbo Aquino hobbled by fouls, Pascual, a transferee from Adamson, fired 12 of his career-best 17 points in the second half to help the Stags overhaul a 10-point deficit and score their ninth straight win, the longest streak in the league since 2006.

?It feels great to sweep the elimination round,? San Sebastian coach Ato Agustin said in Filipino. ?But we can?t afford to relax because all of the teams are out to beat us in the second round.?

Another sweep in the second round will send the Stags outright to the best-of-three finals, while the second to fourth-ranked squads will clash in the stepladder semifinals to determine the other finalist.

?We?re not thinking of the title yet,? Agustin said. ?We just want to reach the Final Four first.?

Earlier, Arellano nipped Mapua, 76-73, to close out the first round with three straight victories and a 5-4 record, good for a share of fourth with Letran.

Leonard Anquilo, the shortest player in the league at 5-foot-1, made a steal off Jason Pascual in the dying seconds to preserve the Chiefs? lead, before Gio Ciriacruz, who finished with 14 points, iced the game by splitting his free throws with 5.5 ticks left.

?I told my players that our goal is to make it to the Final Four and we need to start by getting this win, I?m glad they responded to the challenge,? said Arellano U coach Junjie Ablan.

The Stags turned a 36-46 deficit into a 57-51 lead late in the third period, thanks to a 14-1 run fueled by Aquino, who scored eight of his season-low 11 points during that stretch before riding the bench for most of the final period on fouls.

Then, Pascual nailed the Stags? last basket in the third period and scored their first eight points in the fourth to keep the Knights at bay, 65-60.

?We were overeager in the first half but we made the necessary adjustments and settled down in the third quarter,? said Agustin. ?Letran dictated the tempo of the game, but we got our game back when we executed our trapping defense.?

Ian Sangalang?s putback off Gilbert Bulawan?s miss with 40 seconds left made it 77-74 for the Stags.

Letran had two chances to send the game to overtime after Pamboy Raymundo missed two free throws but RJ Jazul and Kevin Alas missed potential game-tying triples inside the final 10 seconds.

In juniors? play, Jarelan Tampus and Archie Inigo combined for 40 points while Glenn Khobuntin had 16 and 18 rebounds as Letran upended San Sebastian, 87-79, for a nine-game sweep of the first round.
Arellano crushed Mapua, 102-86, to improve to 3-6.

The senior scores:
First Game
ARELLANO 76?Celada 16, I. Ciriacruz I. 16, G. Ciriacruz 14, Rivera 14, Apostol 9, Anquilo 5, Miranda 2, Agustin 0, Reducto 0, Tayongtong 0, Virtudazo 0.

MAPUA 73?Cornejo 22, Mangahas 20, Acosta 9, Pascual 9, Cinco 6, Guillermo 2, Sarangay 2, Soriano 2, Stevens 1, Ranises 0, Maniego 0, Parala 0.
Quarters: 17-20, 30-33, 57-46, 76-73

Second Game
SAN SEBASTIAN 77?Pascual 17, Sangalang 12, Aquino 11, Maconocido 10, Najorda 9, Bulawan 7, del Rio 5, Raymundo 3, Abueva 2, Semira 1.

LETRAN 74?Belencion 18, Guevarra 16, Ke. Alas 14, Jazul 9, Foronda 7, Cortes 6, del Rosario 2, Kr. Alas 2, Gutilban 0, Datang 0.
Quarters: 22-23, 36-44, 57-53, 77-74