ARELLANO University put an end to its three-game losing skid after surviving a desperate stand from San Sebastian 69-61 entering its final game of the NCAA Season 102 men's basketball group stage on Tuesday at the Filoil Center in San Juan.
The win allowed the Chiefs to book a quarterfinals spot as they improved to 6-6 and stay in second spot of Group B ahead of their critical showdown against Emilio Aguinaldo College on November 9.
"Unang una saludo ako sa coaches ng San Sebastian, ang hirap nila talunin, ang ganda ng preparation nila so nag-adjust kami kasi bumalik na si T-Mc [Ongotan] at Basti [Valencia] coming from the injury, so nasagad ko siya [T-Mc] ng more than 30 minutes," Arellano coach Chico Manabat said.
"Talagang nag-focus kami makuha yung panalo sa Baste kasi ayaw namin umasa sa [kung] manalo yung iba pero kami, kami talaga yung kailangan tumrabaho para makuha namin yung last two games namin, nakuha na namin yung Baste so EAC nalang talaga yung matinding preparation namin."
The Chiefs actually had to recover from a flat start after the Stags came out of the gates firing a took a 12-point lead behind the hot hands of Nurben Muktimar.
Arellano, however, slowly cut into that lead behind the fit-again T-Mc Ongotan and his backcourt partner Renzo Abiera to storm back and retake control of the game.
Ongotan was back to his MVP ways as he finished with 22 points, five rebounds, four blocks and two steals in the win as he finished the entire game this time, playing for more than 30 minutes — showing that he's nearly healed from that ankle sprain.
"Ayun nga, injury, nakapagadjust narin ako, everyday nagiimprove naman yung injury ko. Sobrang thankful ako sa coaches ko na di ako sinusukuan. Kaya ngayon, sinuklian ko din yung pagssakripisyo nila at pagttyaga sakin kaya ginawa ko yung best ko," Ongotan said.
Abiera added 19 points and seven rebounds while King Vinoya chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds.
Kent Bacani finished with 19 points while Muktimar added 16 points and nine rebounds but it wasn't enough as they fell to 0-12.
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