Saturday, August 09, 2008 Rookie leads Stags to 5th win in NCAA
THE San Sebastian College Stags leaned on rookie Raymond Maconocido’s four straight points including the game-winning drive in the final 16 seconds to pull off a pulsating 64-62 win over the Mapua Cardinals yesterday in the 84th NCAA basketball tournament at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The Cardinals were leading, 61-60, before the 5-foot-8 Maconocido, a transferee from Olivarez College, connected a fall-away jumper to grab back the lead, 62-61, only 42 seconds remaining.
Mark Sarangay of Mapua could only split a charity off a foul by Jason Ballesteros in the return play that locked the match for the fourth time, 62-62 with just 32 seconds
left.
“Jason played well today. He never cared about his points but only for the team to win. Dave Najorda and Raymond also did a good job especially in defense,” said San
Sebastian coach Jorge Gallent.
Maconocido then received the ball from Dave Najorda to score the winning basket that nailed the Stags’s fifth win—their fourth straight—in nine matches.
“We played together as a team already and that’s really good for us in our effort to reach the final four. At least, we got back at Mapua today,” added Gallent referring to their 60-86, setback to the Cardinals in the first round of the elimination last July 2. (FCC)
