New San Sebastian College head coach Arvin Bonleon also assumed the role of a scout before taking on Letran College on Sunday in Season 100 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Bonleon, who also played for the Stags before deciding to get the coaching job, checked on fellow rookie mentor Allen Ricardo of Letran.
“I even searched his previous games and his coaching staff to know what he runs in his team,” Bonleon said.
Going the extra mile proved to be decisive.
The Stags, behind the career-high 30 points of Michael Are, posted a come-from-behind 91-84 win over the Knights.
Bonleon’s efforts almost didn’t pay dividends after the Stags stared at a 75-63 deficit entering the fourth frame.
But Are took charge as he wound up resetting his previous best output of 23 points in a 94-75 win also against Letran by spiking a telling 19-6 salvo that gave San Sebastian the lead at 82-81, with 2;32 remaining.
“Our motto has been ‘prove them wrong.’ It boosted our motivation to prove to everybody that we can win this game,” Are said.
An acrobatic layup by Tristan Felebrico gave the Stags a 91-81 and the game with 60 seconds left.
Felebrico was not to be outshone as he banged in 14 points.
While San Sebastian’s offense clicked, defense also played a pivotal role in the Stags’ triumph.
San Sebastian’s defense forced 24 turnovers on the Knights and even scored 34 easy points off those errors.
“We still have a long way to go but at least this is a good motivation to the players,” Bonleon said.
Harold Ricio also scored 14 points for the Stags while Raymart Escobido chipped in 13 points as they joined College of Saint Benilde and defending champion San Beda University on top of the standings with similar 1-0 win-loss records.
Kobe Monje and James Jumao-as both scored 16 points for the Intramuros-based team.
Ricardo, who steered the Squires to back-to-back NCAA juniors titles, admitted Letran lacked the killer instinct to close out the game.
“We lost our toughness on both offense and defense. I told the boys we can’t afford to waste our opportunities, and we should always go for the kill,” he added.
In the second game, Emilio Aguinaldo College pulled off an 87-80 win over Arellano University in overtime.
King Gurtiza led the Generals with 18 points as they chalked their first win of the season.