MANILA, Philippines – San Sebastian bullied its way in the second half to beat an under-manned Emilio Aguinaldo College, 83-68, in a fight-marred game Wednesday in the 2012 FilOil Flying V Preseason Hanes Cup at the Arena in San Juan.
Calvin Abueva flirted with a trible-double as he scattered 19 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists for the Stags, who only led by five, 59-54, with 1:39 left in the third quarter before the bench-clearing incident occurred.
Igee King of EAC, Michael Miranda and Michael Juico of SSC got ejected after being slapped with disqualifying fouls for fighting.
“I told my players we’re not here to box. We win when we score. It’s ugly,” said SSC head coach Topex Robinson, whose team has hiked its winning streak to four games after losing its first two.
“We’re starting to pick up our game. I always tell them during halftime that we just have to play solid,” added Robinson.
The Generals started the game under-manned with some of their players injured and after the scuffle, they were down to six players.
Outnumbered and seemingly weary, EAC just couldn’t keep up with the bigger San Sebastian squad.
Ian Sangalang added 17 points and nine rebounds.
The Stags held the Generals scoreless for the first five minutes of the final period. And from that stretch, San Sebastian’s gap has stretched to 18, 75-57.
Franz Chiong, EAC’s starting guard, suffered from leg cramps at the eight-minute mark of the fourth and did not return as the Generals played the rest of the game sans a substitute player.
Remy Morada and Noube Happi led EAC with 18 points apiece.
Morada though, jacked up too many ill-advised shots for a woeful seven-of-24 shooting from the field. Noube also grabbed 13 rebounds.