San Sebastian edges JRU in overtime

MANILA, Philippines – San Sebastian College-Recoletos defeated the gritty Jose Rizal University, 91-89, in overtime to bag its first win in the NCAA basketball tourney on Tuesday, July 14 at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City.

Aftter trailing earlier, the Rodney Santos-mentored Golden Stags placed the team within striking distance at the 3:33 mark of the fourth quarter, 67-66, courtesy of Jon Ortuoste and Ryan Costelo scores.

Although JRU’s pesky duo of John Grospe and Bernabe Teodoro chipped in six points to widen the gap, Ortuoste’s trifecta and Costelo’s charities brought the Heavy Bomber’s edge by a point.

With Michael Calisaan splitting his free-throws, the Recto-based brigade managed to tie the game with a minute left in the fourth period, 74-74.

Grospe swished a reverse layup to give JRU a two-point leverage, before Costelo responded with a breakaway drive to tie the ball game in the dying seconds.

Costelo, a second-year court general, tried to go for the game-winning jumper, but he botched his attempt, sending the game into overtime.

Costelo and big man Bradwyn Guinto outmuscled the defensive stops inside the shaded area to punch seven points, 83-76.

Collapsing down the stretch of the overtime period, Vergel Meneses’ dirty dozen relied on Calisaan and Paolo Pontejos, who spearheaded fast break attacks to cut the 86-77 lead of San Sebastian.

Senior forward Cris Dela Paz tallied six points in JRU’s last hurrah when he was fouled by Ortuoste while taking a shot beyond the arc before draining a vital pierce from downtown, 90-89.

Ortuoste, who finished with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, one steal and one block, broke the Golden Stags into the winner’s column by shooting one of his two free-throws with 1.6 seconds remaining.

Costelo and Guinto combined for 32 markers, while Calisaan added 22 points after spearheading the first half for San Sebastian with ten points.

On the other hand, Teodoro had 15 points to lead the Heavy Bombers, who downgraded to a 1-2 standing in the ongoing double-round robin eliminations.

Scores:

SSC-R (91) – Calisan 22, Ortuoste 18, Guinto 17, Costelo 15, Fabian 5, Santos 4, Mercado 4, Bulanadi 3, Capobres 2, Bragais 1, Sibal 0, Pretta 0, Vera 0, David 0.

JRU (89) – Teodoro 15, Pontejos 14, Dela Paz 12, Grospe 11, Poutuouchi 10, Estrella 5, Balagtas 4, Lasquety 4, Cruz 3, Dela Virgen 3, Abdulwahab 2, Aurin 0.

Quarter scores: 17-20, 34-37, 53-56, 76-76, 91-89

– Rappler.com