San Sebastian scalps Ateneo, makes PCCL history
Thursday, 15 December 2011 4,749 Views / 209 Comments
FOR the first time in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League’s nine-year history, a team from the NCAA finished the season lifting the Manuel V. Pangilinan Perpetual Trophy.
The San Sebastian College-Recoletos Stags used a 13-3 run at the beginning of the second quarter to jump ahead of the Ateneo de Manila University and made the scoring binge count in the stretch run to hold off the UAAP champions until the final buzzer, 73-67 at the Arena in San Juan last December 15.
Prior to the game, Stags head coach Topex Robinson outlined a three-part formula: “Play hard on defense, play smart on playing through the calls and have fun in winning this championship.” The result was the Stags’ first title since their 2009 NCAA championship.
Leading by a point after the first quarter, a Stags quintet that didn’t have both Calvin Abueva and Ian Sangalang on the floor wrecked havoc, getting seven from AJ Vitug and four from Michael Miranda to lead 30-19 with 7:10 left in the first half. It took a triple with 42 seconds left in the second period from Oping Sumalinog to finally get the deficit below double-digits, sending the Blue Eagles into the lockers at the break down 36-29.
In the third quarter, two charities by the NCAA MVP Abueva made it a 12-point lead once more, 47-35 before the Blue Eagles turned to third-year point guard Juami Tiongson for firepower. The spitfire delivered, scoring 11 in the latter half of the third. WIth 10 minutes left in the game, Ateneo went with a lineup of JP Erram, Justin Chua, Nico Salva, Kiefer Ravena and Tiongson, and it seemed to be a combination that clicked. The five doubled their San Sebastian counterparts’ offense, 8-4, slicing the lead down to 61-57 with 6:17 left to play. But, with Ateneo in a zone defense, Jonathan Semira, who had missed the bulk of the NCAA season with an ACL injury, nailed his only shot of the game, a whopping three-pointer that was later followed up by an outside shot from Abueva, pushing the Stag advantage back to 67-59. Said Robinson of Semira’s comeback, “He gave me a call, and told me, ‘coach, I can play?’ In the practice yesterday, he was making his shots [so] I told him, let’s go for it.”
Ateneo reinserted Greg Slaughter to the court and the early penalty situation of the Stags allowed the Blue Eagles to pound the ball inside. Three consecutive trips to the foul line in three possessions resulted in a 5-for-6 clip, trimming the deficit to 71-67, with 1:09 to play. On the other end, tight defense forced Sangalang to hoist up a triple to avoid the buzzer. That missed its mark, but Ateneo was no better off a timeout as Ravena and Tiongson both missed their attempts. Forced to foul, Ravena put Abueva on the line where he split his charities, hiking the lead to 72-67 with 23 seconds left. Ateneo head coach Norman Black sued for time once more, but the result was still the same as Tiongson missed his desperation triple. With 13 seconds left, Abueva was again sent to the stripe. There, he earned another split that sealed the final score and victory.
Abueva was his usual beastly self, leading all scorers with a massive double-double of 20 points and 20 rebounds, while also dishing out three assists and swatting three shots. Sangalang added 19 markers and 15 boards, while veteran floor general Anthony del Rio added 10 points. It was a massive upset by the Stags, who won without scoring machine Ronald Pascual, a victim of a torn left ACL in his squad’s first game PCCL Final Four game against San Beda. “I just told them to take this opportunity to showcase their talents,” said Robinson. “I told them we can’t win it if we’re just going to keep scoring on these guys. We have to make stops.”
Tiongson and graduating guard Kirk Long scored 11 each. Slaughter played just 20 minutes but managed 10 points, five rebounds and two swats. The other two parts of Ateneo’s scoring trio, Kiefer Ravena and Nico Salva, had poor outings, combining for 12 points on an appalling 3-of-25 shooting clip.
Despite spending the entire game once more in a zone defense, San Sebastian still managed to dominate the glass, getting a 54-33 edge on the boards, including 18-12 on the offensive end. The Stags were also sharper from the free throw line, making 15-of-19 charities compared to the 13-of-20 clip by the normally steady-handed Blue Eagles.
The title was Robinson’s first with the Stags, a win that he says validates his position as head coach. “I was doubting my capabilities after that championship [loss] versus San Beda [in the NCAA]. I was telling myself, ‘is it really for me?’ Are the players really believing in me? With this…victory, it’s something I can hold onto for the next season.” Robinson also walked away with the title of the PCCL’s “Best Coach”.
Robinson also confirmed that the Stags’ Pampanga Trio will all be coming back next season. “For sure, they’ll be back. It’s something that they told us that they’re going to be back. Maybe, after this victory, it will also be a good thing for them to realize [that] as long as we play as a team defensively, we can beat teams.”
The tournament’s Mythical Five was dominated by players in the finals series, with Salva and Slaughter of the Blue Eagles making it with Abueva and Sangalang, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player for his consistent presence down in the post. 6’10″ Junemar Fajardo was the sole representative of the University of Cebu Webmasters, the other PCCL semifinalist.
The scores:
San Sebastian 73 – Abueva 20, Sangalang 19, del Rio 10, Vitug 9, Miranda 6, Maiquez 4, Semira 3, Jo. dela Cruz 2
Ateneo 67 – Long 11, Tiongson 11, Slaughter 10, Erram 9, Monfort 8, Ravena 7, Salva 5, Sumalinog 3, Gonzaga 3, Golla 0, Chua 0, Austria 0
Quarter scoring: 17-16, 36-29, 57-49, 73-67
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