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Stags send warning vs NCAA foes with title win vs Tams


San Sebastian expressed its readiness for an ambitious back-to-back NCAA crown. The Stags made known their intention after upstaging the Far Eastern University Tamaraws, 79-78, in the winner-take-all championship match of the 2010 Filoil Flying V First Five Preseason Invitational Cup at The Arena in San Juan. Pamboy Raymundo split his charities off a foul by Ping Exciminiano, a call that sent coach Glen Capacio and the rest of the Tamaraws up in arms in the final 2.9 seconds of the match. Raymundo missed his first shot, but calmly sank the second charity for the marginal tally. The Tamaraws had one last chance to defend their crown and become the first team to repeat as champion in the four-year history of the league, but Aldrech Ramos missed a wide-open three-pointer as time expired. "It's hard to say if we could win back-to-back titles," said San Sebastian coach Ato Agustin. "But we must work on our mistakes during the tournament and prepare for some of the tough teams that we expect come the NCAA season." It was the fourth crown in a span of nine months for the Stags. Aside from their NCAA championship last October, the Stags won the CHED National Games and the previous Philippine Basketball League conference where the core of the squad represented the Excelroof 25ers. With the Stags in high gear, the Recto-based dribblers are touted as the undoubted favorites in the country’s oldest collegiate basketball league that opens on June 26. Calvin Abueva delivered yet another monster game, finishing with 23 points. He scored 12 in the fourth quarter while also doing his share in rebounding. Abueva wound up as the tournament's Most Valuable Player, his second individual accolade after being named most outstanding player as well in the Finals of the PBL last March. Also providing the spark for the Stags were Ronald Pascual, who tallied 22 points and Raymundo, who contributed 16. The Stags led for most of the way, padding their advantage to as high as 14 points in the second period. But RR Garcia, rookie Terrence Romeo and Reil Cervantes kept FEU in the thick of the fight. Behind their trio, the Tamaraws even grabbed a 71-67 with 4:23 to go to set up an exciting windup. Raymundo eventually tied the game on a triple (73-73) with 1:53 left. Ramos hit a jumper then Raymundo scored on a banked shot to tie the game at 75-all. After Abueva drew a charge from Romeo with exactly one minute left, Anthony del Rio hit a three-point play over Garcia for a 78-75 lead with 44.6 seconds to go. However, Ramos hit an open triple to tie the game with 34.7 seconds remaining. Earlier, Adamson secured third place with a 57-55 win over Jose Rizal University while San Beda won the Badolato Cup juniors title by besting Ateneo, 79-68. - RCJ, GMANews.TV

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