San Sebastian College-Recoletos survived the Lyceum of the Philippines University fightback, 85-80, in the play-in round of the NCAA Season 101 juniors basketball tournament on Tuesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
The Staglets went on pivotal 7-0 closing run to turn back and eliminate the Junior Pirates, booking a seat in the quarterfinals round where they will take on Group B top seed Emilio Aguinaldo College in a best-of-three affair.
Khazier Castillo, who ignited the late-game push, top-scored San Sebastian with 23 points together with five rebounds, two steals, and one assist while Browyn Tepan churned out 22 markers laced with eight boards and four dimes.
Usual suspects Mark Esperanza and JC Ynot were also huge with the former posting 16 points and nine assists and the latter registering 15 markers and seven dimes to help San Sebastian avert a collapse after wasting an early 15-point lead.
Down 80-78 in the fourth period, Esperanza dished out back-to-back assists that led to a basket for Castillo and a three-pointer from Ynot as the Staglets, who lost eight of their first nine games, surged to an 83-80 cushion with 12 seconds left.
Ynot returned the favor, setting up Esperanza for the game-sealing bucket.
Steven Creus came up big anew for LPU with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds while Lamarcus Pelayo and Jericho Abrantes chipped in 16 and 14 markers each.
WATCH:
The scores:
San Sebastian 85 - Castillo 23, Tepan 22, Esperanza 16, Ynot 15, Ramiso 9, Pacheco 0, Urbina 0, Aninipot 0, Gutieerrez 0, Dela Cruz 0, Victoria 0.
LPU 80 - Creus 18, Pelayo 16, Abrantes 14, Bo 13, Altamirano 7, Nodalo 6, Mercado 4, Araneta 2, Turno 0, Omelio 0, Pena 0.
Quarters: 19-18, 39-30, 65-53, 74-74, 85-80 (OT).
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
