San Sebastian averted disaster and stopped University of Santo Tomas, 79-71, in the group stage of the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup Friday at the tournament’s namesake arena.
The Stags held a respectable 55-47 lead after the first three periods but the Growling Tigers roared back with a 12-2 run that Marvin Lee capped off with a three-pointer of the right wing for UST’s 59-57 lead.
Allyn Bulanadi, however, sparked San Sebastian and spearheaded a counter in the form of an 13-0 run to get the 75-64 lead with less than three minutes left in the game.
San Sebastian’s senior first tied the game at 64-64 with 5:36 left and broke out his version of a Euro step that gave the Stags a 70-64 lead.
“It’s a good thing we won the game but with the way we’ve played it seems we’ll be having a hard time in future games because we’re still relying on our veterans,” said San Sebastian head coach Egay Macaraya in Filipino.
“We need to play sustainable basketball but this is a good experience for the team.”
UST stretched the floor to take advantage of its shooters and shot 12-of-37 from deep, but that was what Macaraya wanted to happen.
“Actually that was the shot we gave UST, we have to choose and that was our game plan,” said Macaraya whose team matched the Tigers with its 10-of-23 shooting from beyond the arc.
Bulanadi led the Stags with 23 points while John Calma came away with 10 points, 17 boards, and five blocks.
Marvin Lee had 23 points and five assists to lead UST, which remains searching for its first win after two games, while Renzo Subido added 16 points.
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