Stags emerge top seed

Defending champion San Sebastian sprang back from a humbling loss to Philippine Christian the last time out and kept its mastery of Jose Rizal, scoring a 101-82 rout of the Heavy Bombers to gain top seeding in the 2002 NCAA Final Four at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum yesterday.

Their eight-game run halted by the Dolphins, the Stags poured their frustration on the Heavy Bombers, duplicating an 83-75 win in their first round duel to close out their eliminations stint with a league best 11-3 win-loss card.

That gave the Stags the top-seeding in the semifinals, leaving the St. Benilde Blazers and the PCU Dolphins, with similar 9-4 records, to dispute the No. 2 slot at the end of the double-round elims Friday in the same venue.

The Heavy Bombers wound up with a 9-5 card, facing the prospect of a Final Four showdown with the Stags.

Mapua caught Letran at fifth place at the end of their campaigns as the Cardinals ripped the Knights, 80-71, early in the day.

Coach Boy de Vera and his JRU chargers actually did a good job in the early goings but couldn’t keep pace with the SSC as the Stags shifted their game to high gear in the final 30 minutes of play.

Shaking off a listless start, the Stags took a 57-47 margin at halftime and carried several leads of more than 20 points in the final half.

The Heavy Bombers took control early on, unloading an 18-5 opening bomb before sitting on a 26-21 cushion at the end of the first quarter.

But the Stags changed the complexion of the game right in the next period by working on a fluid-motion offense and a stifling helping defense.

With Clark Moore and Redentor Vicente Jr. at the forefront of their attack, the Stags drew level at 41-all before pulling away at 57-47 at the half.

Moore scored a game-high 18 points that went with 12 rebounds and two assist with Vicente and Leomar Najorda adding 15 points apiece, Christian Coronel 12 and Roy Falcasantos 11.

Marco Fajardo fired 13 points to pace the Heavy Bombers.