Perez powers San Sebastian over Mapua, 72-63

MANILA, Philippines - San Sebastian leaned Jaymar Perez’s all-around performance as it turned back first round tormentor Mapua, 72-63, to continue to hang on to solo fourth place in the 89th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City Saturday.

Perez, a rookie born in Hong Kong but was discovered playing in Pangasinan, erupted for 19 points he spiked with 11 rebounds and four assists as the Stags booked their seventh win against five defeats to remain inside the magic four.

Letran, San Beda and Perpetual Help lead the league with 9-2, 9-2 and 9-3 (win-loss) records, respectively.

“I told my players before the game that big things start from doing small things and it helped my players in taking it step by step in getting us a win,” said San Sebastian coach Topex Robinson.

The win also avenged the Stags’ 99-104 defeat at the hands of the Cardinals in their first round meeting last July 1.

And Robinson thinks defense had something to do with it.

“In our first game, we allowed them to score 100-plus points. That’s a lot. But we learned from that loss and we succeeded in limiting them offensively,” he said.

The game, however, was not without some anxious moments as San Sebastian’s Leo de Vera and Mapua’s Mark Brana were tossed out early in the fourth quarter for different offenses.

De Vera, a Fil-Am from California playing his first and only season, was tossed out for elbowing Mapua’s Joseph Eriobu on the face while Brana received his second technical foul of the game for charging into de Vera that merited his ejection.

Mapua went on attack mode early as it raced to an 11-4 start only to see it vanish in an instant and trailed by double digits most of the way.

Then Andrew Estrella finished off what Brana started before the latter’s ejection as he hit crucial free throws to help Mapua slice its deficit to four.

The Cardinals couldn’t get as close as that as Perez and Stags skipper Jovit dela Cruz made clutch fouls shots to seal it.

Mapua fell to 1-11.

The scores:

San Sebastian (72) -- Perez 19, Dela Cruz 14, Ortuoste 11, De Vera 8, Tano 7, Magno 5, Rebollos 3, Trinidad 3, Balucanag 2, Aquino 0.

Mapua (63) -- Estrella 14, Brana 13, Ighalo 9, Eriobu 7, Biteng 6, Isit 6, Saitanan 6, Saitanan 2, Gabo 0, Gonzalez 0, Cantos 0.

Quarterscores: 20-17, 43-31, 55-46, 72-63.