Stags crush mighty Eagles

MANILA, Philippines - This time, there’s no spoiling the San Sebastian Golden Stags’ party. Playing “hard and smart while having fun” as how coach Topex Robinson put it, the Stags finally put the finishing touches to a successful championship run, nipping former back-to-back champion Ateneo, 73-67, to cop the 2011 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) title yesterday at The Arena in San Juan.

Calvin Abueva (20 points, 17 rebounds, three assists, three shot blocks and a steal) and eventual Finals MVP Ian Sangalang (19 markers, 15 boards) stood at the forefront as the Stags hit paydirt two months after falling short in the last NCAA wars.

“It’s just so big for me, I mean I played the number one team in the collegiate ranks in the country (Ateneo) and that’s really a big challenge,” said Robinson, who got his first “victory ride” after SSC became the first NCAA squad to win the PCCL crown, considered the national championship.

The Stags enjoyed twice-to-beat advantage against the Eagles as the top team after the round-robin Final Four but dropped the opener, 51-56. This brought back memories of the NCAA caging, wherein SSC went undefeated through the first 15 games only to stumble in the end and yield the crown to San Beda.

“I was doubting my capabilities after that championship against San Beda. I was telling myself: Is it really for me, are the players really believing in me? I was always thinking of being productive, and this means winning something for them to gain your respect. I guess this victory is something I could hold on to for next year,” said Robinson, lacing this feat with a Best Coach award.

San Sebastian apparently learned from the first outing, not minding the calls this time around and playing their defensive strategies to the letter. 

Result: The Stags took control from the second quarter onwards, enjoying leads as many as 12, the last at 47-35 halfway through the third.

The Eagles got to within four 67-71 late in the fourth but Abueva bailed them out with clutch rebounds off Ateneo’s missed triples in two successive plays, drawing a foul and splitting his charities both times.

“I defined our battlecry as play hard on defense, play smart and not be bothered by the calls and have fun winning this championship. We were just so blessed and humbled to be in this situation right now,” said Robinson, whose team won it without a third of their “Big Three,” the ACL-hit Ronald Pascual.

San Sebastian’s 2-3 zone made life difficult for Ateneo anew. 

“I always tell them playing zone is a team defense. There’s no way you could play a good zone if you’re not playing as team. I told them you have to communicate, give them different looks coz we want to take (Greg) Slaughter out of this game. By pressuring high, we’re forcing him to go high also, that’s why he wasn’t really a big factor in this championship,” he said.

The 6-11 Slaughter only had 10 markers and five rebounds for an Ateneo team that became vulnerable under the boards. Stats showed a whopping 21-rebound advantage for SSC, 54-33.

For this win, the Stags took home the Manny V Pangilinan “Abutin ang Tagumpay” Perpetual Trophy - a bronze sculpture they would hold for one year - aside from the rewards for the champions, P500,000 for the school and another P400,000 for the team.

Ateneo, titlists the last two years, settled for second-best this time, earning P200,000 (school) and P200,000 (team).

Joining Sangalang and Robinson in the MVP achievement awardees were Mythical Team members Abueva, Nico Salva of Ateneo, Junmar Fajardo of University of Cebu, and Slaughter.