SAN Sebastian hacked out a tough 72-68 thriller over Jose Rizal University in the NCAA Season 98 seniors basketball tournament at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Rhinwil Yambing stepped up and fired nine of his 17 points in the fourth quarter as he keyed the Golden Stags' telling 11-0 blast that turned a 60-55 deficit into a 66-60 lead.
"Credit to the boys. Kulang kami sa tao, ang dami naming injuries, pero umapaw yung pag-step up ng iba and good thing is we stayed until the fourth quarter," said coach Egay Macaraya.
[READ: Sotto's career game a silver lining in Adelaide loss]
Ryan Arenal brought the Heavy Bombers back to tie the game at 66 with 3:17 left to set up a back-and-forth endgame battle.
Rafael Are brought San Sebastian through a wave of emotions, stealing the ball from William Sy's inbounds pass only to throw the ball away in the final 26.2 ticks.
He did make up for it with another steal before Raymart Escobido iced the game at the free throw line, the last off a crucial miscommunication between John Amores and Jonathan Medina as the Golden Stags secured their fourth win in 10 games.
Romel Calahat also got 12 points and four rebounds, as Ian Suico had 10 points for San Sebastian, which survived the early ejection of Jessie Sumoda and the suspension of Jacob Shanoda.
JRU lost back-to-back games since its return from postponed games owing to health and safety protocols and fell to a 5-4 card.
Joshua Guiab paced the Heavy Bombers with 16 points and 18 rebounds.
The scores:
SAN SEBASTIAN 72 - Yambing 17, Calahat 12, Suico 10, Altamirano 7, Villapando 7, Are 6, Escobido 5, Una 2, Cosari 2, Concha 2, Sumoda 2, Paglinawan 0, Barroga 0.
JRU 68 - Guiab 16, Dela Rosa 15, Amores 12, Sy 5, Dionisio 5, Arenal 4, Medina 4, Celis 3, Tan 2, Abaoag 2, Gonzales 0, Miranda 0, Villarin 0, De Jesus 0, Joson 0.
Quarters: 12-22, 40-34, 53-57, 72-68.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
