Up by a point after a tightly-contest first half, San Beda used a 29-point third period to cruise against the UST Growling Tigers in their 74-64 win to get their second straight victory held at the FilOil Flying V Arena, Saturday evening.
The Lions cruised to a quick start as they built an 11-4 lead early within three minutes into the game. Ryusei Koga and Baser Amer led the fastbreak charge in the opening period as San Beda’s transition game hurt UST in the first moments. By the 6:35 mark of the first, all of San Beda’s starting five already entered the scoring column with Ola Adeogun scoring underneath.
Ed Daquioag knocked down UST’s opening field goal of the second period with a triple that made it a 21-20 game in favor of the NCAA squad. However, San Beda countered with a fast 7-0 run to reinstall their hold of the game’s rhythm and momentum. Tankoua scored a basket on the 3:01 mark to give SBC their largest lead of the half at 31-22. Scoreless for about five minutes, UST called for a timeout that triggered their late run in the half. A wide-open elbow jumper by Jamil Sherriff gave them the edge at 32-31 but was quickly answered by Ranhill Tongco to beat the first half buzzer to give San Beda back the lead heading into the half.
UST’s Ed Daquioag played a stellar opening half as he played a one-man show offensively for his squad. He had 20 points during the first twenty minutes of the match including a triple and six coming from transition plays that helped the Tigers claw their way back into the game.
San Beda and UST exchanged baskets early to start the second half that swing the lead back-and-forth for both squads. Sheriff scored UST’s first eight points in the first five minutes of the third to pull them within 41-40, still in favor of San Beda. The Red Lions counted with six straight points off the fast break with Amer and Art Dela Cruz leading the way. The duo completed a fastbreak with three minutes to go in the third to reinstall a 52-45 lead. Dela Cruz also scored 13 points in the quarter to pace the Red Lions’ offense as his team ended the third still up by baker’s dozen.
Despite fourth quarter buckets from Ed Daquioag and Mario Bonleon to salvage some points and attempt to slice San Beda’s lead, the mini spurt came in too late as San Beda’s reserves did the job needed to secure the ball game. UST limited San Beda to only 13 points in the fourth, but their 16 was not enough to climb back in the match.
UST next assignment will be up against UP on May 20 at 3:15pm while San Beda will go up against Lyceum for their third opponent in this tournament.
The scores:
San Beda(74) – Dela Cruz 15, Koga 11, Amer 10, Tankoua 8, Tongco 8 Sara 8, Adeogun 4, Mocon 3, Mendoza 2, Cabanag 2, Sedillo 2, Reyes 1, Soberano 0, Sorella 0, Presiberio 0, Abuda 0, Abude 0, Alas 0
UST(64) – Daquioag 29, Bonleon 15, Sheriff 10, Vigil 3, Lao 3, Kakonda 2, Magno 2, Huang 0, Caunan 0, Decapia 0, Faundo 0, Furaque 0
| TEAM | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH |
| SBC (B, 2-0) | 21 | 33 | 61 | 74 |
| UST (B, 1-2) | 17 | 32 | 48 | 64 |
