Red Lions get the win but Blazers gain the respect
What started as a ho-hum NCAA Season 89 opener turned out to be a heart-stopping one in the last five minutes. Nobody gave the College of St. Benilde any chance to upset the four-peat seeking San Beda on opening day. In the end, the Blazers still did not get the upset win. But they sure did try and almost succeeded.
The Red Lions, down by one at 69-70, with just 4.7 ticks left in the game, perfectly executed an inbounds play designed by first year coach Boyet Fernandez. It was an amazing alley-oop play with a perfect pass from Rome Dela Rosa to Arthur Dela Cruz, which the latter easily converted to the game-winning basket.
San Beda escaped with a 71-70 victory over a hard-fighting St. Benilde side that clawed back from as many as 15 points.
So relieved was Fernandez that after Paolo Taha missed the desperation heave, he sprinted like crazy out of the playing court, which he admitted later on as a knee-jerk reaction to being saved from the claws of death by the well-ran play.
The Red Lions actually began the game with a 10-0 run that almost connoted that a blow out was in the offing. The Blazers would threaten to stage a comeback several times throughout the game but the defending champs would quell each and every attempt. CSB never gave up though and just kept pushing until the middle of the fourth quarter when San Beda’s lead started to fade one possession after another.
Then the Blazers unloaded back-to-back triples, the first by main man Mark Romero, and the second by rookie Fons Saavedra that gave the lead to CSB for the very first time.
Saavedra’s booming trey brought the house down as the throng of host St. Benilde's supporters erupted in jubilation along with the gallery of both Letran and San Sebastian. Everybody wanted to see a king-sized upset, especially against the team that won six of the last seven titles.
But the Red Lions, after allowing the resilient Blazers to get back into the fight, used their poise and experience to avert what would have been an embarrassing loss.
San Beda has not lost on opening day since 2006. Heck, even its last year’s first game was won with just six players on the court, 81-71, versus Arellano. Since 2006, the Red Lions have been starting their season with a bang, winning in devastating fashion – 2006 (vs JRU, 81-51), 2007 (vs JRU, 91-69), 2008 (vs Mapua, 85-56), 2009 (vs Mapua, 85-52), 2010 (vs JRU, 68-52), 2011 (vs UPHSD, 82-52) and 2012 (vs Arellano, 81-71).
So yesterday’s Houdini act marked the first time San Beda came to the brink of defeat in its first assignment of the season.
In the dugout, San Beda chief patron Manny V. Pangilinan expressed his concern over the complacency displayed by the Lions during their fourth quarter meltdown. “We will take the win but it’s a dirty one,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Blazers proved that they couldn’t be taken lightly this year. Under new coach Gabby Velasco, the Taft-based squad seemed to have developed a never-say-die attitude that certainly earned the respect of the other member schools. Despite losing last year’s top gunner Carlo Lastimosa, the Blazers managed to win tough games even during the pre-season tournaments. In the Fr. Martin Cup Open Division early this year, they subdued the Letran Knights in the semis to barge into the finals versus the Lions. But they lost the title bout by 27 points.
The opening game showed that the Lions are not invincible this year. Despite having a formidable line-up on paper, yesterday’s game revealed some cracks in the Lions’ arsenal. The other contenders like Letran, Perpetual Help and Arellano will surely take advantage of such weaknesses.
By all indications, this 89th edition of the NCAA will be an exciting and unpredictable one.
In the main game, the Knights banked on the dominant performance of prized center Raymond Almazan to get past the San Sebastian Stags, 74-69. He was a monster in the game, amassing MVP stats of 15 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks. He was a man among boys yesterday. But Letran did not have a walk in the park against the rookie-laden Stags.
Ahead 58-50 entering the payoff period, the Knights found themselves in a quandary when unheralded Stag Jamil Ortueste sparked a huge San Sebastian rally that tied the count at 61-all with still six minutes in playtime. The diminutive guard completed back-to-back three-point plays that made the game interesting in the final few minutes. He finished with 16 markers, five boards and three steals.
But Letran’s veterans Almazan, Kevin Racal and Mark Cruz used their experience in making crucial baskets in endgame to give new coach Caloy Garcia his first victory with the Knights.
Letran is considered to be one of the contenders this season mainly because of Almazan, Cruz, Racal and rookie sensation Rey Nambatac.
SSC returning coach Topex Robinson will have a tougher season with nine rookies in the team. The Stags suffered the biggest losses in terms of manpower with the exodus of the Pinatubo trio Calvin Abueva, Ronald Pascual and Ian Sangalang. Also gone are reliable big men Dexter Maiquez and Michael Miranda. Robinson will be pinning his hopes on new player Jaymar Perez, whom many described as the second coming of Abueva.
Later today, Jose Rizal University will be testing mysterious Mapua in the 4 p.m. curtain raiser at the San Juan Arena, while the Red Lions will be aiming for a more convincing victory against the Lyceum Pirates at 6 p.m.
