Trust triggers Stags’ triumph over Chiefs

SAN SEBASTIAN GOLDEN STAGS (Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net)

A little faith did wonders for San Sebastian on Saturday.

The Stags stuck to their system without wavering and cruised to a 111-86 rout of Arellano in the NCAA Season 99 me’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena on Saturday.

San Sebastian thus evened its record to 1-1 by putting a lot more faith in the team’s philosophy than it did in an opening-day loss to Mapua.

“This is our system here, to run the ball, shoot early, run the fastbreak and pressure the ball,” said San Sebastian coach John Callos.

“In our first game, they [players] doubted what we were doing so I said, ‘if we have doubts, we’ll really have a hard time,’” Callos added.

“I asked them to just trust the system, trust their teammates and everything will fall into place.”

And everything did fall in place for San Sebastian.

The Stags’ fluidity opened up their offense as they shot 53.2 percent from the field en route to their bench players outscoring their Chiefs’ counterparts, 52-35.

Six players finished in double figures for San Sebastian, led by the 16 points of Mark De Leon.

The Stags also responded to Kallos’ plea for aggressiveness in the shaded area as they outrebounded the Chiefs, 51-32.

Meanwhile, Lyceum continued its winning ways with a 76-73 squeaker over Perpetual Help in the other game.

After defeating both Season 98 finalists College of St. Benilde and Letran, the Pirates had to survive a gutsy Altas squad, who kept it close until the final buzzer.

The Pirates are now 3-0 for the season.