NCAA S87: SBC vs SSCR

History Lesson:
His shot off all game long, Ronald Pascual drove hard to the basket and found Calvin Abueva for an easy lay-up for what turned out to be the go-ahead basket. Turnovers and missed free throws by Ian Sangalang left the door open for San Beda however, but they came up empty on their final two looks at the basket. Off a timeout, Anjo Caram missed long two-pointer, then after Abueva went out of bounds trying to save the ball, the best shot the Red Lions could get was a corner triple by Dave Marcelo that clanked off the rim, ending San Beda's undefeated streak, as the Stags survived, 70-68. (Recap here)

What's at Stake:

• Up for grabs is positioning for the Final Four, as both these squads have clinched a twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs. Should San Sebastian win, they'll be matched up against the JRU Heavy Bombers, while San Beda gets to extend their dominance over the Letran Knights. A San Beda win however, forces a playoff for the top seed.

SBC Stat to Watch : As much as possible, the defending champions want to get up and run, and put points on the board in a bad way. For whatever reason, the Red Lions just aren't equipped to deal with a low-scoring game, producing their two lowest outputs in their losses, just 68 and 65 markers.
SBC Player to Watch : Garvo Lanete was held to 0 points and a combined 0/8 from the field in the fourth quarter of SBC's two losses, showing how key this fifth-year veteran is to the team's fortunes. Now the Stags played the situation by guarding him tightly in the fourth quarter, giving him just two attempts and making other guys beat them, which they failed to do. That seems more likely than the 0/6 clip he exhibited versus JRU, which is pretty flukey.

SSCR Stat to Watch : When they lost to Letran, the Knights were able to "ugly up" the game, preventing the Stags from getting out in transition, and scoring off turnovers. San Sebastian got a combined 17 points from fastbreak and turnover points, their second-lowest since their near-loss to Perpetual Help, in which they tallied just 14.
SSCR Player to Watch : Ian Sangalang is the lone guy the Stags can throw it to in the post and watch create, as Dexter Maiquez and Bobby Balucanag are limited to scoring off offensive boards. In the first game, Sangalang was limited to 3 for 7 shooting from the field, 3 for 8 from the line, with just eight rebounds, leaving the door open for the Red Lions to win after flubbing late free throws. They'll need a sharper performance from him in this game if they want to avoid having to play yet another match.

Prediction: SBC Red Lions