Knights topple Stags in the NCAA

NCAA. Letran's Kevin Alas tries to get past San Sebastian's Ronald Pascual. Photo by August Dela Cruz

MANILA, Philippines—It took  a gutsy Kevin Alas to topple the squad that dominated all season.

Alas knocked in a wide-open triple with 22.9 seconds left as the Knights halted San Sebastian’s unbeaten run, 82-81, in overtime in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Friday at the FilOil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

“I was looking at papa (Letran coach Louie Alas) if I should take the shot but he wasn’t looking,” said Alas. “I just decided to take it even if I kept missing my earlier shots.”

The game-winner was Alas’ lone triple after missing his first five attempts. Aside from finishing a team-high 22 points, Alas grabbed six rebounds, dished out 10 of the team’s 23 assists and had four steals.

“Hindi ko siya tiningnan kasi diskarte nya na yun (I let him do his thing),” coach Louie Alas said of his eldest son.

The season’s biggest upset snapped the Stags’ 15-game winning streak and also paved the way for a Final Four format. An 18-game elimination sweep would have propelled the Stags straight to the Finals while leaving the other qualifiers to battle in a stepladder semifinals.

Clearly back in the groove, San Beda rolled past Lyceum, 101-67, in the first game to strengthen its hold of the second spot with a 14-2 record.

The Red Lions got off to an 8-0 start and never turned back as Kyle Pascual, Melo Lim, Garvo Lanete and Adler dela Rosa fueled the charge.

“It’s a big game for us,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim. “It’s a good way of building our confidence as we go into our final games against Letran and San Sebastian.”

Jam Cortes delivered 13 points and seven rebounds, while Franz Dysam buried all of his 12 points from beyond the arc for the Knights, who remained at third with a 13-3 record.

Letran duplicated its feat two seasons ago when the Knights also halted the Stags’ 15-game run with an 80-63 decision on Sept. 25, 2009.

“The game measured the team’s toughness after an adversity,” the elder Alas said just four days after his Knights recovered from a stunning 68-53 loss to the cellar-dwelling Perpetual Help.

Calvin Abueva (16 points and 20 rebounds)  had a chance to win the game for the Stags, but missed on a drive in the dwindling seconds. Ronald Pascual paced the Stags with a game-high 25 markers.

The 34-point blowout victory extended the Lions’ winning streak to three after absorbing an upset loss against Jose Rizal University, 76-65, two weeks ago.

Kyle Pascual posted a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds and the younger Lim had 14 markers on top of three boards and four assists for the Lions.

Although the sixth-running Lyceum dropped to 6-10, the Pirates remained in the thick of fight for the last Final Four berth along with idle JRU (7-9), Mapua (7-10), Arellano (6-11) and St. Benilde (5-10).

The scores:
First Game
SAN BEDA 101—Pascual K. 18, Lim 14, Dela Rosa 12, Lanete 12, Sorela 11, Amer 8, Pascual J. 6, Semerad 5, Caram , Pontejos 3, Villahermosa 3, Koga 2, Marcelo 2.
LYCEUM 67—Cayabyab 18, Francisco 13, Napiza 12, Guevarra 8, Ko 6, Lesmoras 3, Laude 3, Pascual 2, Mallari 2, Ong 0, Lacap 0, Anacta 0.
Quarters: 30-14, 49-31, 71-49, 101-67

Second Game
LETRAN 82—Alas Ke. 22, Cortes 13, Dysam 12, Belorio 8, Alas Kr. 8, Racal 4, Gabriel 4, Cruz 4, Almazan 4, Espiritu 3.
SAN SEBASTIAN 81—Pascual 25, Sangalang 22, Abueva 16, Dela Cruz 9, Del Rio 6, Miranda 2, Vitug 1, Ferrer 0, Balucanag 0.
Quarters: 20-15, 34-34, 51-52, 72-72 (reg.), 82-81 (OT)