T-Mc Ongotan wasted no time reminding everyone why the Arellano Chiefs built their offense around him. The Chiefs opened their NCAA Season 102 Men’s Basketball Tournament campaign by routing the San Sebastian Stags, 98-72, on Monday at the Filoil Centre, with Ongotan leading all scorers at 23 points to go with six assists and three steals.
Basti Valencia and Renzo Abiera backed him up with 12 points apiece, and the Chiefs’ depth showed up in a big way as the bench alone combined for 45 points.
Arellano Starts Strong
Arellano set the tone almost immediately, ripping off a 10-0 run just a minute and a half into the game. From there, the Chiefs never let up. With Ongotan a constant presence at the free-throw line and San Sebastian coughing the ball up repeatedly, Arellano built a 27-point cushion by halftime, 61-34.
“He’s a leader talaga dito sa group na ‘to. Ito ‘yung bunga ng will ng preparation namin,” said head coach Chico Manabat of Ongotan, who recently returned from a hamstring injury suffered during the preseason.
San Sebastian, under coach Rodney Santos, showed some fight to start the third quarter with a 14-6 run, but the deficit was simply too large to chase down. Arellano kept the pressure on with transition baskets, cruising to the 26-point win. The Chiefs turned San Sebastian’s 27 turnovers into 29 points, a margin that told most of the story on its own.
“We prepared physically and mentally,” Manabat added. “Nawa tuloy-tuloy na ‘to and hindi kaman pa natatapos dito. Siguro maganda lang sa una ‘to, pero dapat may patunayan kami.”
Matt Acosta kept San Sebastian competitive individually, posting a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, with John Ynot also scoring 13.
What’s Next
San Sebastian looks for its first win against the Letran Knights on Friday at 5:00 p.m., while Arellano aims to keep its momentum going against the EAC Generals the following Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. Both games are set for the Filoil Centre in San Juan.
