NCAA: San Sebastian Stags try to put cuffs on Letran Knights

MANILA—The league’s top two scorers may be at his disposal yet San Sebastian coach Topex Robinson will be putting a premium on defense when his Stags battle Letran for the solo lead in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament today.

Both aiming to stay perfect, the Stags and the Knights—locked in a three-way tie with idle San Beda at 3-0—tangle in the 4 p.m. main game at the FilOil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

Photo By Ejay Amador

Newcomer Lyceum also tries to sustain its surprise run against Arellano at 2 p.m.

“We know we have a Calvin Abueva who can take care of the scoring for us, but we also want to take pride in our defense,” said Robinson. “I think that’s what other teams take for granted—that we can also defend.”

An MVP contender last season, Abueva leads the league with a 23-point average while teammate Ronald Pascual norms a second-best 19.7 points.

“We just have to contain those three guys, we know we can’t stop them,” said long-time Letran mentor Louie Alas, who is also worried about Stags beanpole Ian Sanggalang. “We have to play doubly hard against San Sebastian. It will be an acid test for us.”

Alas’ son Kevin remains as Letran’s chief gunner while Jam Cortes, Jonathan Belorio and Kevin Racal have also been stepping up.

“We may not be as strong [on paper] but the boys really want to win,” said Alas.

The Knights are coming off an 88-70 rout of Arellano where Alas cited his team’s “balanced scoring, good rebounding and good ball movement.”

Abueva also just had a big game of 31 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists, while Pascual posted 29 markers in the Stags’ 87-60 crushing of Perpetual.

Lyceum, meanwhile, go for its fourth win in six outings just a couple of days after stunning preseason favorite Mapua, 76-73, where Floricel Guevarra, Allan Santos, Onofre Napiza and Chris Cayabyab shone.