Stags outlast Blazers, complete Final 4 cast

Games tomorrow

4 p.m. – EAC vs Mapua

6 p.m. – San Beda vs Arellano U

MANILA, Philippines - San Sebastian College put its act together in the fourth and repulsed St. Benilde, 69-62, to clinch the fourth and last Final Four berth in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

CJ Perez unloaded 17 points while Fil-Am Leo De Vera and Jon Kervin Ortuoste added 10 points apiece as the Stags finally nailed the elusive win that formalized their stint in the next round.

They did not only make it to the semifinals alongside San Beda (14-3), Letran (14-4) and Perpetual Help with an 11-7 but also earned a crack at the No. 3 spot after finishing tied for third with the Las Piñas-based squad.

The Stags and the Altas will dispute the No. 3 seeding on Oct. 29 starting at 4 p.m., also at the San Juan Arena.

The victory also eliminated Emilio Aguinaldo College, which had hoped for a San Sebastian loss to gain a shot at a playoff for the last semis seat.

It was a tough, rollercoaster campaign for the Stags, who had to buck the loss of their top three players – Calvin Abueva, Ian Sangalang and Ronald Pascual – to neutralize the other Final Four aspirants and stay in the semis hunt.

“Credit should go to my players, who believed in the system – teamwork, discipline and run, run and run,” said SSC coach Topex Robinson, who left the team midway of the last season but returned this year.

“We knew from the start that we will no longer have our Big Three in the fold,” said Robinson referring to Abueva and company. “So we made an extra effort to get into great shape because we’re really bent on running every chance we got to make up for our lack of star-power and size.”

Meanwhile, San Beda tries to clinch the top seeding as it takes on ousted Arellano U at the close of the double round elims tomorrow. A reversal, however, will force a tie for first with Letran, necessitating another playoff for the Final Four seeding.

Mark Romero turned in a game-high 23 points for the Blazers, who made quite an impression with a run of one-point losses in the first round but finished second to last with a 5-13 record.

The Stags, with Perez, De Vera and Ortuoste on the firing end, pressed their bid early and seized control in the first two quarters, 17-9, and 31-22.

In a non-bearing game, Arellano U downed Jose Rizal, 63-54, to improve to 8-9.