San Beda showed why it rules the land
Showing championship poise down the stretch, the San Beda College Red Lions fashioned out a 94-87 win against the Lyceum of the Philippine University Pirates and take Game One of the best-of-three NCAA Seniors Basketball Finals, Friday evening.
“Well, I stick to the brand that we are still the underdogs. We still have to win one more game,” said San Beda head coach Boyet Fernandez.
This is the Lyceum Pirates’ first loss of the season. Moreover, the Red Lions can clinch their 10th championship in 12 years on Thursday, November 16.
When the game was on the line, it was Robert Bolick who became a man possessed once the barker announced that the game was heading into its last two minutes.
With the San Beda clinging to a solitary point lead with 1:28 left, Bolick drained a cold-blooded triple to the roar of the Bedans in attendance. The 21-year-old followed this up by scoring six more points capped by a split on the stripe with 15 ticks left to give San Beda a 92-87 lead to halt the late-game rally of the Pirates.
Bolick finished with 24 points on 7-for-18 shooting from the field.
But it was not just Bolick who stepped up in the contest, as there were many unsung heroes for the Red Lions.
“I give credit to my players. They say that the heart of the Lyceum players are big, well I can say ours are big too,” Fernandez added.
But San Beda had to rally back from a 12-point deficit, 57-45, with 8:25 left in the third quarter. Behind Donald Tankoua, the Red Lions were able to go on a 16-3 run to gain the lead.
Tankoua finished 27 points on 12-for-20 shooting to go along with 20 rebounds. Davon Potts added 15 points while Javee Mocon chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds.
“We’ve been really preparing for the press of LPU. We always tell the players to take care of the basketball. In two games we lost, we committed a lot of turnovers . Yun ang problema namin na we’re trying to cut down. Na-cut down lang namin ng kaunti,” said Fernandez, as San Beda committed just five errors in the second half after tallying 14 in the first 20 minutes of the contest.
Reigning Most Valuable Player CJ Perez finished with 25 points and eight rebounds. Mike Nzeusseu tallied 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Scores:
SBC 94 – Tankoua 27, Bolick 24, Potts 15, Mocon 11, Soberano 9, Tongco 4, Doliguez 2, Noah 2, Abuda 0, Presbitero 0, Adamos 0.
LPU 87 – Perez 25, Nzeusseu 14, Ayaay 11, Caduyac 9, Marcelino JV 8, Marcelino JC 6, Ibanez 6, Santos 5, Pretta 3, Serrano 0, Baltazar 0.
QUarterscores: 22-21, 45-50, 64-64, 94-87.
