The Red Lions improved their standing to 2-4, while the Heavy Bombers are still looking for their first win, now with 0-5.
The Lions were on the verge of losing their 20-point advantage in the fourth after Jonathan Medina jumper, 64-69. But then they sparked a blistering 18-0 run led by JB Bahio and Justin Sanchez to give them a much bigger lead this time, 87-64, with under a minute and thirty left.
“Well yun naman talaga kasi yung philosophy ng team namin eh,” said head coach Yuri Escueta. “I always believe that we have 13 to 15 players that we can play at anytime. And its not just the players, we’re trying to build the system, the ball movement, so ‘di naman ako nagtataka dun.
He continued, “Tsaka binibigyan taglaga namin ng training sa shooting the past two weeks. They were taking shots, so evident naman, makikita naman nila yan sa performance ng shots nila compared sa first three games.”
Five Bedans finished with double figures, four of them are starters.
Peter Alfaro led SBU with 15 points, three rebounds, and three assists. James Kwekuteye had 13 markers, six boards, and four dimes.
Sanchez and Bahio who led the fourth quarter run finished 13 and 11 respectively. The former had three rebounds, two steals, and an assist while shooting 66-percent to relieve the starters; while the latter ended up with eight boards and five assists.
Ry Dela Rosa led JRU in the scoring department with 19 from off-the-bench duties. He also had three boards and a block.
San Beda will play their final elimination game on Saturday against Lyceum of the Philippines University at 1:00 PM. Meanwhile, JRU will be facing De La Salle University tomorrow at 3:00 PM.
The Scores:
San Beda 88 – Alfaro 15, Kwekuteye 13, Sanchez 13, Bahio 11, Cuntapay 10, Cortez 9, Ynot 6, Cometa 4, Andrada 3, Visser 2, Jopia 2, Tagala 0, Llarena 0, Tagle 0
JRU 69 – Dela Rosa 19, Miranda 11, Medina 8, Dionisio 7, Sy 6, Guiab 6, Amores 4, Villarin 3, Gonzales 2, De Jesus 2, Celis 1, De Leon 0, Abaoag 0, Tan 0
Quarterscores: 19-9, 45-33, 66-56, 88-69
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