MANILA, Philippine—San Sebastian pulled off a stunning feat even without one of its best players suiting up.
The Stags dethroned Ateneo, 73-67, in the rubbermatch game two to pick up the 2011 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) title Thursday, despite the absence of Ronald Pascual.
But San Sebastian got a huge boost from its main man Calvin Abueva, who never relented the entire game and banged in 19 points and whopping 17 rebounds, along with three blocks.
“We didn’t win against San Beda [in the NCAA finals], so we really fought to win this championship,” said Abueva.
Ian Sangalang, who was adjudged as the tournament’s most valuable player, also came through for the Stags.
It was not just any other victory as the Stags become the first school, which is not a part of the UAAP, to win the national collegiate championship.
And the Stags did it quite convincingly as they never allowed the two-time PCCL champion Ateneo to ever snatch the lead since early in the first quarter.
AJ Vitug, Dexter Maiquez and Anthony Del Rio teamed up with Abueva to keep the Blue Eagles at bay and preserve the double-digit gap for the better part of the game.
Ateneo didn’t go down without swinging, despite anemic shooting from its top scorers Nico Salva, Kiefer Ravena and Greg Slaughter, though, as it was able to slash the lead down to 67-71 with a minute left.
But the Blue Eagles muffed all of their chances to come closer down the stretch, with always a Stag underneath the basket to grab the rebound.
Salva made only two of his 15 attempts from the field while Ravena only finished with four points—all coming from the stripe.
San Sebastian’s Abueva and Sangalang, Ateneo’s Salva and Slaughter and University of Cebu’s Jun Mar Fajardo were named part of the Mythical Five while Topex Robinson took home the Best Coach award.