Stags upend Knights, firm up place at 2nd

Streaking San Sebastian poured on the heat in the third quarter yesterday and went on to beat Letran, 75-63, as the Stags tightened their grip on second place in the 77th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

It was the fourth straight victory for coach Turo Valenzona’s wards who, with their 5-2 record, remained closely behind Jose Rizal University, still unbeaten in six games. For the Knights, who fell to 3-4, it was their third straight defeat following a three-game win streak.

Despite closing their first-round schedule on a bright note, Valenzona said there’s still a big room for improvement for his team, which finished second behind St. Benilde last year. "Adjustments offensively and defensively still have to be made for us to improve," he said.

Mark Macapagal, last year’s MVP, led the San Sebastian onslaught, drilling in three triples on his way to 20 points. The Stags took the half at 37-30 and scored the first nine points of the third quarter to post their biggest lead at 16 points.

Trailing, 46-61, at the start of the fourth, the Knights, behind Harold Sta. Cruz and Ismael Junio, unleashed a 12-2 run to narrow the gap at 58-63. But the Stags quickly doused cold water on their rivals, dropping a similar 12-2 bomb for a 75-60 lead, only 1:46 left.

In the other game, Perpetual Help proved steadier down the stretch as it turned back giant-killer Philippine Christian University, 64-62, and moved to solo third with its fourth win in seven games. The Dolphins slid to 2-5.

PCU, fresh from a stunning 73-71 victory over Mapua last Thursday, took a 13-point lead in the third quarter and appeared headed for another upset win until they crumbled in the end. They could have forged an overtime but Leo Gaspi’s undergoal shot failed to beat the buzzer.

Roy Falcasantos triggered that decisive San Sebastian counter-attack with a triple from the left wing while fellow quarterback Christian Coronel followed it up with two more treys, both of them coming from the right side.