MANILA—Ronald Pascual unleashed a career-high 33 points as San Sebastian overpowered Jose Rizal U, 78-59, Wednesday to bag the first Final Four berth in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
The 6-foot-2 guard had 32 through three quarters before slowing down in the final period with the Stags already assured of a slot in the postseason for the third straight year with six games to spare.
“We expect him to have a performance like this,” said San Sebastian coach Topex Robinson. “What’s special about Ronald (Pascual) is he is very humble and doesn’t complain.”
“We still have to challenge ourselves,” added Robinson after the Stags extended their unbeaten start to 12 games. “We cannot be satisfied.”
The loss completed a double blow for the Bombers, whose protest of their 65-71 defeat to Lyceum last week was rejected by the NCAA Management Committee for “failure to follow the procedure in filing a protest.”
Letran also fanned its streak to six games while ending Mapua’s run at four by outlasting the Cardinals, 69-67, in overtime.
Kevin Alas delivered 14 of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter and in the extra session to lead the Knights, who improved to 10-2, half a game behind idle San Beda.
“We knew Mapua would be tough, but the players just didn’t give up on defense,” said Letran coach Louie Alas.
“We kept grinding and grinding. It was difficult because we were playing pressure defense for almost the entire game.”
The Knights held Yousif Taha scoreless in overtime, after the Mapua center had 14 of his 18 in the third and fourth quarters.
Alas forced the extra session with a triple with 56 seconds remaining that tied the game at 60, before making two free throws with 17 seconds left in the extra period for a 68-67 lead.
Mark Cruz split his foul shots with six seconds remaining, and Josan Nimes missed a desperation triple at the buzzer, completing Letran’s sweep of Mapua.
Alas also had five rebounds, five assists and five steals, while 6-foot-7 center Raymond Almazan finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocks.
San Sebastian also drew 18 points and 19 rebounds from Ian Sangalang, while Calvin Abueva, limited to only 25 minutes, pumped in 13 points and grabbed 13 boards.
The Stags dominated the boards, 64-28, with the rebounding margin the biggest so far this season.
The senior scores
First Game:
LETRAN 69—Ke. Alas 20, Almazan 14, Cortes 10, Dysam 8, Belorio 4, Kr. Alas, Racal 3, Espiritu 3, Pantin 2, Cruz 1, Mendoza 0.
MAPUA 67—Taha 18, Nimes 14, Mangahas 8, Banal 7, Pascual 6, Stevens 4, Chien 3, Ighalo 3, Sarangay 2, Parala 0.
Quarters: 10-7, 28-28, 47-43, 60-60 (reg), 69-67
Second Game:
SAN SEBASTIAN 78—Pascual 33, Sangalang 18, Abueva 13, Dela Cruz 9, Maiquez 4, Balucanag 1, Miranda 0, Ferrer 0, Antipuesto 0, Del Rio 0.
JRU 59—Villarias 16, Kabigting 13, Apinan 11, Matute 8, Lopez 6, Monserat 3, Almario 2, Paniamongan 0,Mendoza 0, Carampil 0, Montemayor 0.
Quarters: 19-6,37-28, 60-42, 78-59