Stags have bad day, lose thrice in a single NCAA playdate

San Sebastian’s Michael Calisaan tries to strip San Beda’s Eugene Toba of possession.
—AUGUST DELA CRUZ

It simply wasn’t San Sebastian’s day. The Stags took a loss on the court and then dropped two more games off it.

San Beda drew firepower from Javee Mocon and rookie James Kwekuteye in the fourth quarter as San Beda thwarted San Sebastian, 65-54, Thursday to stay unbeaten in the NCAA basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Mocon and Kwekuteye split a 20-point fourth-quarter effort as the Lions outscored the Stags by 12 for a sixth straight victory that kept them nipping at the heels of unbeaten Lyceum’s 7-0 slate.

San Sebastian slid to 3-6 but then dropped two more games to fall to 1-8 after the Stags were slapped a two-game forfeiture by the league because of an infraction by suspended standout RK Ilagan.

Ilagan was slapped a three-game suspension for playing in another league, according to NCAA Mancom chair Frank Gusi of host Perpetual Help.

Gusi also revealed that San Sebastian board representative Fr. Glyn Ortega has already withdrawn their appeal and slapped Ilagan a three-game suspension themselves.

St. Benilde and Jose Rizal, which both lost to San Sebastian, benefited from the decision and improved to 4-3 and 1-6, respectively.

“The NCAA’s action on this incident, including the sanctions imposed, is in accordance with the existing NCAA Manual of Operations and with the best interest of the league and the discipline of student athletes in mind,” Gusi said in a statement.

In the other game, Perpetual Help leaned on the duo of Kim Aurin and Nigerian Prince Eze as it overcame Mapua, 74-68, to grab solo third spot.

Aurin, a transferee from Jose Rizal, came through with his best game thus far with 22 points, four rebounds, five assists and five steals while the 6-foot-9 Eze powered his way to 19 points and 19 boards.