WITHOUT meal ticket Arvin Tolentino, the San Beda Red Cubs lost their poise and invincibility. San Sebastian College-Recoletos turned the tables around against two-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tormentor San Beda College with a thrilling 108-102 triple overtime win in the finals of the 2nd Philippine Secondary Schools Basketball Championship (PSSBC) at the SGS gym in Quezon City.
The Golden Staglets, who lost twice to San Beda during the NCAA Season 89 and finished third overall, led 70-60 with three minutes left in regulation but could not finish of the Red Cubs as Joshua Caracut made successive triples to send the contest into first overtime.
SSC’s heady guard Lorenzo Navarro forced second OT with a jumper. The Staglets were set to claim victory as they led by four points in second OT, 96-92, with barely 20 ticks remaining. Caracut, however, scored another triple at the buzzer to send the game to another five-minute extension.
It was his fifth triple since the final minute of regulation. In the third overtime, Navarro and guard Ryan Costello helped Baste to a 12-6 score as it handed Beda its first loss in eight assignments in the three-week event.
Hope Christian High School, the 2012 PSSBC titlist, downed Mapua Institute of Technology, 80-72, to take third-place honors. Jollo Go topscored for HCHS Soldiers with 20 points.
During the semifinals, Joshua Caracut knocked in 19 points, Javee Mocon posted a double-double with 18 scores and 12 rebounds and top college prospect Arvin Tolentino contributed nine points and 10 boards as San Beda eliminated Mapua Tech, 83-63.
SSC-R, on the other hand, outlasted dethroned champion Hope Christian High School, 110-107, behind Golden Staglets guard Ryan Costelo’s tournament-high 38 points (eclipsing by one De La Salle-Zobel’s Renzo Subido’s 37 in an 82-78 setback to Ateneo de Manila in preliminary-round action).
San Beda’s PSSBC perfection marked the second time in two months that its juniors team had completed a major tournament with an unblemished mark.
Last month, the Red Cubs beat the College of St. Benilde-La Salle Greenhills Greenies, 2-0, in the NCAA finals to complete a 20-game sweep in Season 89 and annex their fifth consecutive crown under first-year head mentor JB Sison, who took over the reins after long-time coach Britt Reroma quit to move back to Cebu.
The Red Cubs’ season sweep was the first in the NCAA juniors division since the San Sebastian College-Recoletos went 14-0 in 2008.
Going into the PSSBC finals, Tolentino was leading the Red Cubs in point production with an 11.7-point average. The 6-5 power forward also was contributing 6.2 rebounds an outing.