Daniel Padilla dropped his best game so far in a Colegio de San Juan de Letran uniform, sending the Squires to an 88-84 comeback win against San Sebastian College-Recoletos in the NCAA Season 100 juniors basketball on Sunday.
The senior guard detonated for a career-best 39 points that was highlighted by a decisive 7-of-14 shooting from downtown while also grabbing 10 rebounds, five steals, and one assist as the Squires improved to 5-2.
The Staglets, whose star player in Sanlea Peñaverde stepped out of the game midway through the fourth period due to five fouls, fell to a 2-5 card.
With sharpshooter Peñaverde out, the rest of San Sebastian had to carry out the fight with Marc Santos completing a layup that would send the Staglets to a comfortable 74-67 lead with 5:21 to go.
But Padilla pressed the takeover mode, knocking down back-to-back triples and completing a three-point play that allowed the defending champions to take an 82-79 cushion.
Santos and Justin Cargo then traded three-pointers before a Benedick Jimenez putback enabled the Staglets to cut the deficit to a solitary point, 85-84, with only 1:04 left.
Timothy Cruz cleaned up a missed triple from Padilla to make it an 87-84 lead as the latter sealed his best game with a split from the line.
Despite the loss, San Sebastian still got a huge game from Peñaverde, who posted 29 points, nine rebounds, and four assists before getting whistled for a technical foul due to taunting in the 5:29 mark of fourth period.
In the first game, San Beda University vented all its frustrations on Arellano University, 105-68, to snap a tough three-game losing skid after opening its campaign with a 3-0 start.
Laurence Batongbakal and Andrei Ugaddan led the charge by collecting 19 points each while Randaile Medroso chipped in 17 markers to help the Red Cubs improve to 4-3.
Scores:
First Game:
San Beda 105 – Batongbakal 19, Ugaddan 19, Medroso 17, Vailoces 10, San Juan 10, Wagan 9, Dollente 7, Reroma 5, Garcia 3, Mondigo 2, Lago 2, Suhail 2, Tauber 0, Feliciano 0, Winters 0.
Arellano 68 – Ladica 15, Baluyot 9, Yusi 8, Distrito 7, Dy 6, Mendoza 6, Vergara 6, Manansala 5, Pillas 4, Austria 2, Aurita 0, Pascual 0, Tagorda 0, Guiral 0, Ferriols 0.
Quarters: 34-18, 58-31, 85-52, 105-68.
Second Game:
Letran 88 – Padilla 39, Cruz 9, Silorio 8, Valdeavilla 6, Cargo 6, Pico 6, Dela Rama 4, Lumague 4, Alforque 4, Villanueva 2, Quiñones 0, Quijada 0, Hugo 0, Danan 0, Magcale 0.
San Sebastian 84 – Peñaverde29, Victoria 15, Santos 12, Jimenez 11, Hadji Casan 10, Herrera 7, Apostol 0, Marasigan 0, Melano 0, Ynot 0, Candare 0.
Quarters: 19-23, 48-43, 61-65, 88-84.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
