San Beda noses out Letran, moves on threshold of three-peat
Defense wins championships.
That’s exactly what two-time defending champion San Beda proved anew Thursday night, holding off stubborn Letran, 62-60, at the packed MOA Arena to move within a win of hoisting the NCAA Season 88 seniors’ cage crown.
Heady playmaker Baser Amer came off the bench and tallied a game-high 20 points, 13 coming in a pivotal third-quarter fightback, while gamely setting up the plays for his teammates in the stretch that enabled the Red Lions to draw first blood in the best-of-three series.
Providing stellar support for Amer, who also had six rebounds and three assists, were Ryusei Koga, southpaw Art Dela Cruz and Nigerian import Ola Adeogun, who combined for 19 of the last 21 points of San Beda.
More than extending its mastery of Letran to 15 games since the Knights scored a 70-69 win last July 22, 2007, San Beda also moved within a victory away from clinching a league-best 17th title.
Down 27-35 midway in the third, Amer gamely took over the game and pumped in 13 in the Red Lions’ decisive 16-4 onslaught for a 43-39 cushion.
Koga then rattled six straight points followed by another four from Dela Cruz but the Knights stayed hot on the Red Lions’ heels, pulling within 53-55 off a Jonathan Belorio triple with 3:01 left.
After Adeogun and Raymond Almazan traded buckets, Amer wisely set up the table and found a wide-open Koga, who drilled in a dagger of a trey for a 62-57 lead, time down to just 65 seconds.
Not giving up, the Knights racked up three consecutive points–a split by Kevin Alas and a Mark Cruz jumper–to cut the deficit to 60-62 with 38.3 ticks left.
Getting a timely feed from Amer, Adeogun trooped to the line after getting fouled by Kevin Racal but the 6-foot-6 center muffed his charities, giving the Knights a golden opportunity to steal the win.
With 20.9 seconds remaining, the Knights readily rushed the leather and, as expected, put matters in the hands of Alas. But the Letran star got ganged up on by Koga and Jake Pascual along the sideline, forcing him to throw the leather away, with Amer completing the steal.
Fouled with eight-tenths of a second left, Amer got the inbound pass from Rome de la Rosa as time expired, sending San Beda faithful into jubilation.
Alas collected 15 points in the first 20 minutes but could only add another three in the pivotal half while Racal, who shook off an ankle injury in the third canto, added 14 markers and 10 rebounds for Letran, which overcame a twice-to-beat disadvantage to oust second-ranked San Sebastian College.
Earlier, three-time defending champion San Beda Red Cubs made life miserable for San Sebastian Staglets in the second half to hack out a 69-51 victory in the juniors’ finals.
National team mainstay Arvin Tolentino towered over his rivals as he collected 20 points on top of eight rebounds, two assists, and as many blocks, while Jayvee Mocon had a double-double outing of 15 points and 17 huge rebounds for the Red Cubs, who turned a tight game into a romp–thanks to a rejuvenated defensive stance in the finals 20 minutes.
“The third quarter was the key,” noted Red Cubs coach Britt Reroma, who also got 17 points from Joshua Carucut, also an RP Youth standout. “We made some minor adjustments and were able to control the boards.”
The Red Cubs can wrap up the series–as well as a record 20th title–with another win this Saturday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Staglets sorely missed the services of Jon Macasaet (chicken pox), with three players only coming up with at least seven points apiece.
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