Chiefs stun Stags; Lions move a win away from NCAA sweep

Arellano, one of the two newest teams in the country’s oldest collegiate league, has just scored the biggest win of its young career. The Chiefs pulled off a king-sized upset win over defending champion San Sebastian, 64-62, a victory that would somehow uplift their spirit in the homestretch of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Friday at The Arena in San Juan. Adrian Celada, Arellano’s top gun, hit the go-ahead jumper in the dying seconds of the game that shattered the game’s final deadlock and completed his team’s surprising win. With the game tied at 62-all, Celada eluded his man, Gilbert Bulawan, then hit a step-back jumper to put Arellano on top. The Stags had a chance to send the game to overtime, but Pamboy Raymundo’s pass to Ian Sangalang was deflected by Ronnel del Rosario, thus creating a mad scramble for the ball and the Chiefs gained possession as time expired. "Like I said before, what's important for us now is to win against teams that are below us and then maybe we can snatch a win against these strong teams," said coach Leo Isaac. "Luckily, we were able to snatch this one against the defending champions." Already out of the running in the Final Four race, the Chiefs’ mission was to play the spoiler’s role against the Stags. The Chiefs did just that, stunning the heavily favored Stags with their all-out defensive effort. The Legarda-based dribblers were able to hold down the Stags to only seven points in the first period then led by as much as 15, 54-39, entering the final period. But the Stags charged back behind guard Jonathan Semira, who tied the game at 60-all with a triple at the 3:02 mark of the final period. San Beda moved a win away from completing a double-round elims sweep after dumping Letran, 74-56, in the second game. The Lions try to complete a sweep with a win over the Stags in their final assignment to become the first team to score a double-round sweep in 13 years. The Stags, then handled by Bai Cristobal and bannered by a star-studded squad that included current PBA players Romel Adducul, Topex Robinson and Banjo Calpito, recorded a double-round sweep in 1997. A win over the Stags next week will automatically put the Lions in the championship round and gain a thrice-to-beat advantage. This means San Beda will need to win twice while its opponent will need to beat the Lions three times in the finals. - RCJ, GMANews.TV