San Sebastian’s Nikko Aguilar. Photo from NCAA Philippines.

MANILA — San Sebastian College-Recoletos avoided a late-game meltdown to post its third win in NCAA Season 100 men's basketball. 

The Golden Stags escaped Jose Rizal University, 87-85, during their Round 2 clash, Wednesday afternoon at the San Juan Arena.

Paeng Are led all scorers with 28 points, five rebounds, three assists, and a steal, Raymart Escobido posted 17 markers and two dimes, while Nikko Aguilar, who hit the biggest shot of the game, contributed 13 points on 3-of-4 shooting from long range. 

Trailing by two after Marvin Raymundo hit back-to-back midrange jumpers to propel the Heavy Bomber to an 83-81 lead, Are sank both of his shots at the 4.5-meter stripe to tie the game at 83 with still 1:11 minute left.

Both teams exchanged misses in the following possessions, but the Stags got the offensive glass following Reggz Gabat's failed attempt, and this led to a booming Aguilar triple with only 23 seconds left in the game for an 86-83 advantage. 

Josh Guiab tried to put some life after his basket under the rim to cut their deficit to one, 86-85, and helping this was a turnover by SSC-R, but Shawn Argente missed his attempt to overtake the Stags.

Aguilar then went on to split his charities at the foul line to leave the door open for JRU to win the game, but Ramundo's attempt at the top of the key missed the bottom of the net.

Raymundo and Argente both had 20 markers to lead JRU, while Guiab finished with a 17-point, 11-rebound game. 

The result of this game put both squads at 3-8 in the team standings.

The Scores:

San Sebastian 87 – Are 28, Escobido 17, Aguilar 13, R. Gabat 11, Felebrico 8, L. Gabat 5, Velasco 2, Ricio 2, Cruz 1, Suico 0, Pascual 0

JRU 85 – Raymundo 20, Argente 20, Guiab 17, Sarmiento 8, Lozano 7, Barrera 4, Panapanaan 2, Bernardo 2, Pangilinan 2, Garcia 2, De Jesus 1, De Leon 0, Benitez 0, Ferrer 0

Quarterscores: 28-14, 42-36, 64-56, 87-85