One Day Later: AU vs SSCR, CSJL vs JRU

SSCR 97 - AU 70
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Player of the Game : The San Sebastian Stags took advantage of the Arellano Chiefs starting small by making sure center Ian Sangalang got the most touches on the team, allowing him to post 24 points on 18 shot attempts. Sangalang got multiple looks, being defended by Gerald Lapuz, Ronnel Del Rosario and Christian Palma, but none of them were able to contain the big guy, as he also hauled down nine rebounds.

AU Positives :

• -After three games of averaging just 40.03 percent from inside the arc, the Chiefs were able to hit 49 percent of their inside shots against the Stags (a bit of a reach, but hey, think positive)

AU Negatives :

• The Chiefs could not get anything going on the boards, pulling down just 29 to 48 by the Stags.
• After swapping the lead back and forth early in the first quarter, the Stags seized the lead and never let go of it. As a result, the Chiefs were in perpetual catch-up mode, as this game never became close again.

SSCR Positives :

• The Stags won via the fundamentals, getting good shooting (35 percent from three, 51 percent overall), lots of rebounds (48 to 29 edge, 17 to 10 on the offensive glass), and plenty of team play (22 to 15 assists).
• After norming 22 turnovers in their first eight games, the Stags have been able to calm down and not make careless mistakes. That number has dropped to just 17.33 in their last three outings, with them achieving their fewest turnovers of the season in this game, with 16.
• San Sebastian got some great hustle play, outscoring the Chiefs 25 to 10 in transition, and 24 to 14 on turnover points, with the latter being significant as they both finished with 16 miscues.
• Big game for the bench as Michael Miranda and Jovit Dela Cruz combined for 17 points.

SSCR Negatives :

• Of the team's 16 turnovers, nine came from Ronald Pascual, four came from Calvin Abueva.

CSJL 75 - JRU 56
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Player of the Game : Kevin Alas started slow, before turning it up in a critical, game-winning fourth quarter stretch where he dropped nine points of a crucial 11-2 run, sealing the deal for the Knights. All in all, Alas finished with 17 points on 7 of 16 shooting, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.


CSJL Positives :

• Second-half execution was much improved for the Knights, as they went from 11 turnovers, 14 fouls and nine made field goals to four errors, 10 fouls and 18 converted shots. JRU on the other hand, continued with their sloppy play, thus keying in the win for Letran.
• Jam Cortes outplayed his JRU counterpart, scoring 11 points, hauling down seven boards, and blocking two shots. More importantly, Cortes had no turnovers and just two fouls, allowing him to stay on the court longer.
• Kevin Racal got the party started in the fourth quarter with Kevin Alas on the bench, scoring six points to start the backpedaling of JRU.

CSJL Negatives :

• Raymond Almazan was held in check again, this time with foul trouble, as the 6'7" center compiled just seven points and nine rebounds, though he did have two steals and three blocks.

JRU Positives :

• The Heavy Bombers were clearly out to win this game, and in the first half, their effort definitely showed, as they managed to tie the game at the break, 31-all, after Letran let loose with a big run. They also managed to get the rebounding edge after 20 minutes and tied them at the end of the game, a big deal when you consider that Letran is the number one rebounding team in the NCAA.

JRU Negatives :

• I'm not sure why Jeckster Apinan gets stapled to the bench in games like these. His combination of height and athleticism makes him a good match for any of Letran's bigs, but he only got seven minutes of play, as Ralph Monserat and John Montemayor saw the lion's share of minutes.
• The missing piece was John Lopez, who despite playing 31 minutes with four fouls, only contributed two points and four rebounds. Lopez has been on a slide since Nate Matute came back, but as the go-to guy for JRU in the post, he has to be more assertive and demand the ball when he establishes good position in the block.
• Instead of Lopez, the Bombers tried in vain to get Nate Matute going, and though he top-scored for the team with 15 points, he needed 21 shot attempts to get there, a far from efficient performance.
• 1 of 6 shooting from downtown, 29 turnovers, 30 fouls, the story of JRU. 

NCAA Picking Record: 41-14-1