San Sebastian College-Recoletos broke its dry spell as it pulled off a 75-67 stunner against San Beda University in NCAA Season 99 on Sunday.
San Sebastian ended its four-game skid to improve to 4-8 while San Beda absorbed its second loss in a row to drop to 7-4.
Reggz Gabat showed his range in the third period, burying two triples and a jumper to help the Stags establish a crucial 60-51 lead ahead of the fourth.
But San Beda's Jacob Cortez took matters into his own hands in the fourth, cutting the deficit back down to five before Emman Tagle ignited for two triples to make it a 67-64 affair.
Another Cortez trey allowed San Beda to pull to within three after James Una brought San Sebastian to a 70-64 cushion.
But both teams struggled to convert in the next possessions before Romel Calahat cleaned up his own miss for a crucial 72-67 advantage in the final 25.8 seconds. Before that, San Beda committed a costly turnover after James Payosing was called for a five-second violation on the inbound play.
Paeng Are’s three straight free throws pit the finishing touches for the Stags.
Gabat top-scored San Sebastian with 18 points alongside two rebounds and two steals while Calahat churned out 16 markers and seven boards. Are tallied 14 points on top of seven rebounds while Tristan Felebrico put together a double-double outing with 12 markers and 10 boards.
San Beda was paced by Jomel Puno's 16 markers and Cortez's 15.
San Sebastian returns a week from now when it takes on Mapua University next Sunday while San Beda hopes to return to the winning column when it squares off with Emilio Aguinaldo College on the same day.
The scores:
San Sebastian 75 - Gabat 18, Calahat 16, Are 14, Felebrico 12, Desoyo 7, Esconido 3, Sumoda 2, De Leon 2, Una 1, Shanoda 0, Castor 0.
San Beda 67 - Puno 16, Cortez 15, Tagle 9, Payosing 7, Gonzales 6, Jopia 6, Cuntapay 5, Alfaro 3, Llanera 0, Visser 0, Gallego 0.
Quarters: 13-13, 36-28, 60-51, 75-67.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
