MANILA, Philippines – La Salle outclassed San Sebastian, 84-70, in a highly physical affair Wednesday night and completed the semifinals cast in the 2012 Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Cup at the Arena in San Juan.
Reliable starting guard LA Revilla and rookie Jeron Teng carried the scoring cudgels for the Green Archers with 17 markers each while Almond Vostros joined in with 15 points.
The referees had their hands full all night – calling five technical fouls, throwing out a player in the heat of the battle, and tightly calling the match that resulted in three players fouling out.
But La Salle did not let the physical game get to them and took over the lead in the second half, taking advantage of the ejection of San Sebastian’s main man Calvin Abueva.
The Green Archers, who face San Beda on Saturday in the final four, built a 12-point lead with six minutes left and never let go despite scoring spurts from the Stags.
Ian Sangalang and Calvin Abueva paced San Sebastian with a combined 33 points while Jovit Dela Cruz, who tried to spark a run in the final five minutes, added 13.
Abueva, who also plucked eight rebounds, incurred two technical fouls and was sent off with still seven minutes to play.
The Stags held on to a 43-42 advantage at the half, but was sorely outscored by the Green Archers in the final two quarters.