NCAA: Costelo-powered San Sebastian upsets JRU in OT

Michael Calisaan. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Ryan Costelo looked like a man on a mission on Tuesday putting San Sebastian College on his shoulders and steering the Golden Stags to a 91-89 upset of Jose Rizal University (JRU), marking their first win in the NCAA Season 91 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena.

The diminutive guard stepped up for coach Rodney Santos, orchestrating the San Sebastian offense and scoring all of his 15 points in the fourth and overtime periods, to go with eight rebounds.

“Coach had a lot of confidence in me so I have to reward it with my good play,” said Costelo.

Mike Calisaan paced the Stags in scoring with 22 markers and nine rebounds, as Jamil Ortuoste got 18.

Bradwyn Guinto also had 17 points and 20 boards in the victory.

Costelo and Guinto scored the first seven points in extra time and took a seven-point edge, 83-76, the Heavy Bombers could not recover from.

Jordan dela Paz still tried to make a late run for JRU, cutting the deficit to just one, 90-89, with two seconds left, but Ortuoste split his freebies to increase the lead up to two and ice the game for good, as Dave Sanchez’s hail-mary fell short of the goal.

“I’m very proud of the guys. I just told them to keep our composure and don’t shy away from our system,” said Santos, who got his first win in two games for the Stags.

Down by 11 in the fourth period, San Sebastian came back and tied the game at 74 with a minute to play. John Grospe then put JRU in the driver seat with an undergoal stab, which was answered by a teardrop by Costelo to once again knot the score at 76 with 32.0 seconds to play.

Sanchez turned the ball over in the ensuing possession, leaving San Sebastian with 10.9 to make the game-winning shot. However, Costelo’s buzzer-beating trey could not find the bottom of the net as the game went to overtime.

Tey Teodoro led JRU with 15 points and five rebounds.

The scores:

SAN SEBASTIAN 91—Calisaan 22, Ortuoste 18, Guinto 17, Costelo 15, Fabian 5, Santos 4, Mercado 4, Bulanadi 3, Capobres 2, Bragais 1, Sibal 0, Pretta 0, Vera 0, David 0

JRU 89—Teodoro 15, Pontejos 14, Dela Paz 12, Grospe 11, Poutouochi 10, Sanchez 6, Estrella 5, Lasquety 4, Balagtas 4, Cruz 3, Dela Virgen 3, Abdulwahab 2, Astilla 0, Aurin 0

Quarters: 17-20, 34-37, 53-56, 76-76, 91-89