San Sebastian Stags back to their winning ways. –NCAA PHOTO
5It took a playdate against a team that was also struggling but San Sebastian finally crawled out of its slump.
The Stags clamped down on Emilio Aguinaldo College’s double-double center and used a strong second half to breeze to a 78-61 victory on Friday in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena.
San Sebastian checked a four-game slide and kept the hosts winless in the first round.
“We had a four-game losing streak so we really needed this win so we can have momentum in the second round. We focused on our defense and our shots fortunately went in,” Stags big man Jessie Sumoda said.Much of that defense was constructed around Generals’ big man Allen Liwag, who had been a bright spot in EAC’s dismal campaign, averaging 12.4 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.
“[Our big men] were helping each other out. We can’t fully stop Liwag because he’s good but they worked together. The good thing about it is, they worked hard to stop him and he is the key for EAC,” said San Sebastian coach Egay Macaraya.
“It was all about team effort,” he added.
Liwag was held to just two points, both coming from the stripe, and missed all his seven attempts from the field,. He did manage to grab seven rebounds.“I kept on looking for myself to get back in the game that I didn’t execute my role with the team properly,” he said.The Generals were ahead by a point after the half but the Stags picked up the pace to grab a 52-43 edge entering the fourth quarter.
Alex Desoyo led the Golden Stags with 11 points while Sumoda tallied 10 points and six rebounds. Rhinwil Yambing also chipped in 10 in the win.
JP Maguliano scored a game-high 19 markers for EAC while Adam Doria finished with 12. INQ