MANILA -- For a young team in the middle of a rebuild, San Sebastian College has been overachieving this offseason.

With veteran Ichie Altamirano and holdovers like Romel Calahat and Jesse Sumoda showing the way, the Golden Stags have established themselves as a no-nonsense unit, very much to coach Egay Macaraya's liking.

"We just continue to work and work. Sipag lang ang puhunan ang mga bata at unti-unti, natututunan nila 'yung gusto naming gawin para sa team," he said.

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San Sebastian can take another step in its buildup as it seeks to punch the last quarterfinals ticket in the Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup on Saturday.

The Golden Stags, holding a 3-3 card, face winless Jose Rizal University (0-6) at 3 p.m. with a chance to book the final playoff spot in Group B.

A loss, however, complicates a lot of things for San Sebastian as it would need a confluence of events for it to still make it to the bracket's top four in the tourney.

Colegio de San Juan de Letran (3-3) will be looking to inflict top-seed De La Salle University (6-0) its first loss at 5 p.m. in a do-or-die situation. The Knights will need a victory while rooting for a Golden Stags loss to move to as high as No. 3 in Group B.

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San Beda University (2-4) will also be a curious observer after it faces Group B's No. 2-seed Lyceum of the Philippines University (5-1) at 1 p.m. The Red Lions are in dire need of a win while also hoping for Letran and San Sebastian's downfall to gain the superior quotient in the event of a triple-tie and snag the No. 4 seed.

Also-ran teams University of Perpetual Help (2-5) and Arellano University (1-6) face off at 9 a.m., followed by the clash between Emilio Aguinaldo College (3-4) and Mapua University (0-7) at 11 a.m. to finish off their elimination schedules.

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