Ichie Altamirano and Raymart Escobido took turns in leading San Sebastian College-Recoletos as they clinched a 78-74 win over University of Perpetual Help System DALTA in NCAA Season 98 on Friday.
Altamirano scored 13 of his game-high 17 points in the first half while Escobido took over late to finish with 15 markers, including eight in the fourth quarter.
Altamirano also contributed nine rebounds and four assists for the Stags.
San Sebastian, which is already out of contention, hiked its standings to 7-9 while Perpetual closed out its campaign with a 7-11 card.
San Sebastian took care of business in the first two quarters, where team captain Altamirano led the way as the Stags cruised to a 46-35 halftime lead.
The ALTAs then put up some fight in the third, outscoring the Stags 22 to 11 with the graduating Jef Egan and youngster Carlo Ferreras taking over to retake a slim lead, 58-57.
Perpetual, though, hit a snag after veteran guard Jielo Razon was slapped with a disqualifying foul for elbowing Escobido at the 5:54 mark of the fourth as the Stags started to pull away.
Escobido fueled a 6-0 run that saw San Sebastian take a 71-63 cushion halfway through before Perpetual's Shawn Orgo hit an off-balanced triple to make it a 74-71 with 1:41 left.
Altamirano came up with a tough jumper to put the Stags to a 76-71 lead before Orgo responded with two freebies, 76-74, with 30 ticks left.
Perpetual had the chance to win the deal but Egan turned the ball over and sent Escobido to the charity stripe for the victory.
Egan led Perpetual with 15 points.
The scores:
San Sebastian 78 - Altamirano 17, Escobido 15, Calahat 8, Desoyo 7, Villapando 6, Una 6, Aguilar 6, Cosari 5, Are 4, Paglinawan 2, Suico 2, Concha 0, Sumoda 0.
Perpetual 74 - Egan 15, Ferreras 12, Razon 9, Abis 8, Orgo 8, Nunez 7, Movida 6, Roque 3, Barcuma 2, Nitura 2, Martel 2, Flores 0, Pagaran 0, Boral 0, Cuevas 0.
Quarters: 19-18, 46-35, 57-58, 78-74.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
