San Sebastian caught fire from beyond the arc and buried Letran, 95-64, Tuesday in the NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Playing their best game this season, the Golden Stags were scorching from downtown, shooting 16 triples off 37 shots to sink the Knights and grab a leas as big 33, 87-54, courtesy of a Kevin Baytan.
“Our team is really like this, we live and die with the three-points. Good thing that our shots went in, and at 42-percent, it’s high. But I guess they’re improving a lot and let’s give the credit to our guys. This is because of their work in practice. They practice hard and they do extra effort to do shooting every day,” said coach Egay Macaraya.
Jayson David led San Sebastian with 17 points, powered by three treys, on top of five rebounds, three assists, four steals, and a block.
Allyn Bulanadi also got 16 markers off his 3-of-7 shooting from rainbow country, to go with four assists and three boards, while Michael Calisaan got 13 points and seven rebounds for the Golden Stags.
It was still a close game early in the third period with San Sebastian holding a 49-41 lead when it turned on the jets and staged the deciding 17-0 tear, capped off by a Bulanadi trey for 66-41 lead en route to the blowout.
The Golden Stags forced themselves on a tie for the third spot with JRU with their identical 7-6 card.
Letran, meanwhile, could not keep up with San Sebastian’s blistering shooting as it saw its two-game winning streak snapped to slide down to fifth with its even 7-7 record.
Bong Quinto topped the Knights with 14 points and six rebounds, while Jerrick Balanza had 13 markers and five boards.
The Scores:
SAN SEBASTIAN 95 – David 17, Bulanadi 16, Calisaan 13, Gayosa 9, Costelo 6, Navarro 6, Are 6, Capobres 4, Mercado 4, Calma 3, Ilagan 3, Baytan 3, Valdez 3, Baetiong 2, Quipse 0.
LETRAN 64 – Quinto 14, Balanza 13, Calvo 7, Mandreza 7, Nambatac 6, Gedaria 4, Taladua 4, Balagasay 3, Vacaro 3, Pascual 2, Caralipio 1, Bernabe 0.
Quarters: 25-11, 45-38, 69-47, 95-64.