MANILA - The San Sebastian Golden Stags survived a shaky finish to hold on for a 57-56 win against the Mapua University Cardinals, Sunday afternoon at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Romel Calahat powered the Stags to their second win of the NCAA Season 98 men's basketball tournament as he tallied 17 points and 17 rebounds in 35 minutes. San Sebastian netted the win despite Itchie Altamirano going scoreless and fouling out late.

The Cardinals absorbed a second consecutive defeat and saw their ranks dwindle due to injury. Paolo Hernandez, in particular, played limited minutes and did not see action in the second half. Arvin Gamboa had 12 points but limped off with five and a half minutes to play.

"Well, about the win, alam naman natin na breaks of the game lang. Credit to Mapua, they've been playing good defense. 'Yun ang maganda, maganda 'yung laro, kasi we always try to play good defense and make stops," San Sebastian coach Egay Macaraya said after the game.

The Golden Stags took a 55-49 lead with 2:10 to play off a triple by Kenneth Villapando, but Adrian Nocum and Jopet Soriano scored on back-to-back layups to make it a one-possession game, 55-53, with still a minute and a half to play.

Alex Desoyo restored some order when he waltzed into the lane for a layup that gave San Sebastian a 57-53 lead, but Juaqui Garcia drilled a booming triple that cut the deficit to one, 57-56, with still 58.7 seconds left.

The Cardinals had a chance to take the lead when they forced Calahat into a turnover, and off a timeout, Toby Agustin drew a foul on the Stags' leading scorer. Unfortunately for Mapua, Agustin bricked both charities.

San Sebastian couldn't seal the deal, however. Off their own timeout, they threw the ball away, only for Mapua's Garcia to misfire on a three-pointer that could have won the game. The Stags were able to control the rebound and dribble out the remaining time.

"I think it's all about maturity and character, na medyo napakita rin, that's why we won the game. Credit talaga sa nilaro ng mga bata," Macaraya said of his team.

No other San Sebastian player reached double-digits, with Jessie Sumoda and Villapando each tallying seven points. They shot just 34.5% from the field, but grabbed 54 rebounds to Mapua's 34 and had 14 second chance points.

Nocum led the Cardinals (1-2) with 15 points.

The scores:

SSC-R (57) – Calahat 17, Sumoda 7, Villapando 7, Una 6, Desoyo 5, Shanoda 5, Escobido 4, Felebrico 3, Concha 3, Altamirano 0, Cosari 0, Suico 0, Aguilar 0, Are 0.

Mapua (56) – Nocum 15, Gamboa 12, Agustin 9, Garcia 6, Soriano 5, Salenga 4, Pido 3, Bonifacio 2, Cuenco 0, Hernandez 0, Mercado 0, Parinas 0.

Quarterscores: 19-15, 30-32, 42-46, 57-56