Abueva’s triple-double powers Stags past Chiefs

CALVIN “The Beast” Abueva continued on his season-long rampage as he notched a triple-double yesterday to lead the San Sebastian Stags to a 97-79 thrashing of the Arellano University Chiefs in the 87th NCAA basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan City.

Abueva had 18 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists and led a breakaway in the final six minutes of the match after seeing their lead sliced to five by the Chiefs at the end of the third period. Seldom-used Mark Doligon sparked Arellano’s third-quarter surge, scoring seven of his 17 points in that stretch as he combined forces with Jerald Lapuz, Adrian Celada and Rocky Acidre to bring the Chiefs to within three, 54-59.

But the Stags, led by the Big Three of Abueva, Ian Sangalang and Ronald Pascual responded with a crippling 15-5 run which gave them a 73-59 spread that finally took the fight away out of the fading Chiefs .

The win had the Stags climbing into a tie for the top spot with the San Beda Red Loins at 7-0. The Stags and the Red Lions clash on Wednesday to determine who will emerge unbeaten after the first elimination round.

Abueva had eight points in that stretch while Pascual, who led the Stags with 27 points and Ian Sangalang played solid defense against Arellano’s top guns. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio