Games on Saturday (The Arena, San Juan)
10 a.m. — SSC vs AUF (Jrs)
11:45 a.m. — JRU vs Perpetual (Jrs)
2 p.m. — SSC vs AUF (Srs)
4 p.m. — JRU vs Perpetual (Srs)

With its star player Jimbo Aquino sitting out most of the fourth quarter because of foul trouble, San Sebastian drew firepower from Ronald Pascual as the Stags outsteadied the Letran Knights, 77-74, on Friday and completed a 9-game sweep of the first round in the 85th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

Pascual fired 10 of his season-high 17 points in the final frame to help the Stags ward off a determined Letran challenge to complete a mighty sweep of the first round, a feat they last achieved in 1997 when they went 7-0.

The winning run proved to be the league’s longest in three years after defending champion San Beda stretched their winning run to 14 in 2006.

Aquino, the league’s No. 1 scorer with 21 points per game, finished only with 11 in 28 minutes of action. He played only in the last three minutes to avoid early disqualification.

The Stags trailed by 10 points in the third farme but found a hero in Pascual, who sparked the rally with his red-hot shooting.

“Naramdaman ng mga bata yung pressure because nanggigil sila na matapos na agad. Sumunod din kami kasi sa game-plan ng Letran kaya kami nahirapan,” said rookie SSC mentor Ato Agustin. “But this is a good win going into the next round.”

Ian Sangalang made a crucial jumper to give the Stags a 77-74 lead with 39.9 seconds left.

John Raymundo had the chance to seal the Stags win when he was sent to the freethrow line in the next play, but he missed both charities with 13.1 seconds to go, giving Letran ample time to knot the count.

But RJ Jazul and Kevin Alas failed to convert their three-point attempts in that stretch as the Knights reeled to their fourth loss in nine games.

In the first game, Arellano leaned on another razzle-dazzle performance of little general Leonard Anquilo – the league’s smallest player at 5-foot-1 – to beat Mapua, 76-73.

With the Chiefs holding a slim 75-73 lead less than 10 seconds left, Anquilo charged like a thief in the night and snatched the ball from behind Jason Pascual to stop Mapua’s final play.

The score:
First Game (Srs)
ARELLANO 76 — I. Ciriacruz 16, Celada 16, Rivera 14, G. Ciriacruz 14, Apostol 9, Anquilo 5, Miranda 2, Virtudazo 0, Tayongtong 0, Reducto 0.
MAPUA 73 — Cornejo 22, Mangahas 20, Pascual 9, Acosta 9, Cinco 2, Soriao 2, Sarangay 2, Guillermo 2, Stevens 1, Parala 0, Maniego 0, Raneses 0.
Quarters: 17-20, 30-33, 57-46, 76-73

Second Game (Srs)
SAN SEBASTIAN 77 — Pascual 17, Sangalang 12, Aquino 11, Maconocido 10, Najorda 9, Bulawan 7, Del Rio 5, Raymundo 2, Abueva 1.
LETRAN 74 — Belencion 18, Guevarra 16, Kevin Alas 14, Jazul 9, Cortes 6, Del Rosario 2, Kris Alas 2, Gutilban 0, Datang 0.
Quarters: 22-23, 36-44, 57-53, 77-74.