FILE–San Sebastian Stags’ Rafael Are –Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—San Sebastian pulled the rug from under Lyceum in the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena on Wednesday.
After being down by as much as 10 in the fourth quarter, the Stags rallied to upset the Pirates, 95-93, behind the efforts of San Sebastian’s explosive backcourt tandem of Rafael Are and Raymart Escobido.
The Pirates led, 93-83, in the last minutes of the game before San Sebastian orchestrated a huge 12-0 run that ultimately buried Lyceum to a 0-2 slate.
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Are finished just two rebounds shy of a triple-double of 25 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds while his partner-in-crime Escobido also exploded for 23 points. Tristan Felebrico also registered a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds to keep San Sebastian unblemished after two games.
John Barba posted a career-high of 25 points with six rebounds and six assists but to no avail as Lyceum failed to notch their first win of the season.
Pirate forward JM Bravo finished with 13 points and six rebounds before being stretchered out of the game in the last 10 seconds of the game due to an apparent thigh injury.
Rookie shines in Mapua’s first win
Mapua, meanwhile, cracked the win column of Season 100 after defeating Emilio Aguinaldo College.
The Cardinals outlasted the Generals, 69-66, behind the efforts of rookie Lawrence Mangubat.
“I have to thank my coaches and all my teammates for giving me such confidence. I just did my role,” said the rookie.
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“I really put in extra work with my shot and it just showed up today.”
Mangubat scored 15 points with all his scores coming from behind the arc as he sank five buckets out of 11 tries for an efficient 45.5 percent clip.
JC Recto and Clint Escamis helped the cause with 12 and 10 points, respectively, to bring Mapua to a 1-1 record.
The Generals, meanwhile, dropped to an identical record but not without Harvey Pagsanjan scoring 14 while snagging seven rebounds in the process.