Stags survive Blazers’ furious rally to go 6-0

Stags survive Blazers’ furious rally to go 6-0

by rick olivares

It wasn’t the tidiest of endings as the College of Saint Benilde Blazers never stopped fighting but for San Sebastian College Recoletos head coach Ato Agustin, he could still muster a smile. In addition to celebrating his 47^th birthday yesterday, Agustin’s former pro ball club San Miguel beat B-MEG Derby Ace to book their 31^st finals seat in the PBA yesterday and today, his Golden Stags survived CSB’s mighty rally 75-74 to go 6-0 and on top of the standings in the 86^th season of the NCAA.

“Kahit paano masaya pero meron pang two games to go (against Arellano University and undefeated San Beda to end the first round of play).” said Agustin who pounced on his wards’ sloppy play in the fourth quarter. “Doon ako kinakabahan – may tendency sila to relax kapag naka-lamang na. Maganda yung start tapos biglang nag-dive. Sa last game sobra naman yung intensity.”

Even without really trying, the Stags were threatening to blow the game wide open when back-up point guard Raymond Maconocido beat the end of the 3^rd Quarter buzzer with a stretch layup to give his team a 62-47 lead.

The Stags stepped up the pressure when Pamboy Raymundo hit consecutive jumpshots. But thinking the game over, San Sebastian relaxed and the Blazers struck for 12 points in the final two minutes while the champs could only knock down a solitary point from the stripe courtesy of Anthony del Rio. CSB’s Mark de Guzman hit back-to-back treys in the span of 12 seconds to close out the scoring.

“Malaking bagay na Carlo Lastimosa was in foul trouble.” said a somewhat disappointed CSB head coach Richard del Rosario who saw his team tumble to 1-3. “Nakita mo naman before de Guzman took over, Carlo scored nine straight points before fouling out. Sayang. Maybe a made free throw here and there might have changed the result.”

Raymundo led the Stags with 12 points and 4 assists. But he also turned the ball over six times. Calvin Abueva, in only 16 minutes of action, scored 12 points and pulled down 8 rebounds while forward Ronald Pascual chipped in 10 points.

The Blazers’ triumvirate of high-scoring guards accounted for 58% of their team’s output as Lastimosa, de Guzman, and Mac Abolucion scored 20, 13, and 10 points respectively.