San Sebastian holds off Letran, battles San Beda for the NCAA crown anew

MANILA, Philippines—Calvin Abueva put up beastly numbers as San Sebastian held off Letran, 63-56, Wednesday and will face San Beda in the NCAA men’s basketball finals for the third straight time.

Abueva scored 11 of his 20 points in the second half including a crucial tip in that gave the Stags a 61-55 cushion with only 1:58 left.

“When our backs are against the wall, the best thing that we could do is to fight, slug it out and just never give-up,” said SSC rookie coach Topex Robinson.

San Sebastian squandered a nine-point buffer 55-46 after the Knights’ star Kevin Alas tied the count at 55 with three straight triples at the 4:30 mark of the final quarter.

That though would be Letran’s last field goal.

Sensing urgency, the Stags tightened up on defense and suffocated the Knights to just a point down the stretch.

“We just tried to make stops as long as we can. I know that they’re not going to give up easily. I know that they’re going to catch up. And we just prepared for that,” said Robinson.

Alas led all scorers with 26 points but drew futile offensive firepower from his teammates.

Six-foot-six beanpole Ian Sangalang chipped in 15 points and 12 rebounds for San Sebastian, which will try to avenge last year’s loss to San Beda on Monday.

Top MVP candidate Abueva added 18 rebounds and four assists to his stat-stuffer performance.