Stags claim NCAA crown

San Sebastian exploited Jose Rizal University’s maze of errors in the third quarter and turned an expected tight match into a ghastly rout in winning the 77th NCAA basketball crown before a wildly-cheering partisan crowd at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum yesterday.

Showing poise and confidence which the Heavy Bombers just couldn’t match, the Stags bulldozed their way to a 95-62 victory for their first title after stringing up five straight championships starting in 1993.

For all intents and purposes, it was all over even before the fourth quarter had began as San Sebastian simply took advantage of Jose Rizal’s breakdown in building a 62-44 lead after the first 30 minutes of play.

JRU, aching to end a long title drought spanning three decades, was a sorry, sorry sight on the playing court, committing 21 errors and yielding 24 points on SSC fastbreaks.

Actually, it wasn’t the result of San Sebastian’s defense but more on JRU’s bid to erase a big lead quickly.

In several occasions, the Bombers made waste in haste, and the Stags turned their rivals’ garbage into golds.

"Mukhang maaga silang nataranta," said San Sebastian coach Turo Valenzona.

Falling behind by 18, 44-62, after three quarters, the Heavy Bombers trailed with even bigger margins in the final period as they became too disorganized a team, abandoning their set patterns for wild individual plays.

The Stags started to put pressure on the Heavy Bombers when they took the half at 43-35.

Ernani Epondulan, the season MVP, sizzled with 13 points in the first half but went scoreless in final half.

Worse were Ariel Capus and Rendell dela Rea who struggled all day and could also do nothing to stop the Stags from reigning supreme in the league once again.

JRU, for the second straight season, topped the elimination round only to fall short of winning the elusive crown. Too bad for the team, this is now the final playing year of most of its key players, including Epondulan, Capus and Dela Rea.

Letran took a piece of the spotlight when it ruled the juniors competition, beating San Beda, 63-61, in their own title match.