The San Beda College Red Lions finally solved the Arellano Chiefs puzzle.
Down by as much as 22 points, the Red Lions, powered by the duo of Davon Potts and Donald Tankoua, surged in the second half, blasting the Arellano University Chiefs, 101-86, to stay perfect in the 92nd Season of the NCAA Seniors Basketball Tournament.
“Every time you’re down, you have to dig deep,” San Beda head coach Jamike Jarin shared. “Start of the game, I talked about how things should be done, talking about trust and heart. That was the gameplan.”
Potts and Tankoua combined for 59 points in the game. Potts scored 31 points, 20 in the second half, to lift San Beda. Donald Tankoua added 29 markers and 14 rebounds.
The Arellano Chiefs quickly jumped on the Red Lions in the first frame, holding a 17-2 lead early on. The lead grew to as high as 22, 36-14 with six minutes to go in the second frame. Gilas Cadet Jio Jalalon paced the Chiefs in the half with 15 points while Allen Enriquez complemented his floor general’s effort with 10 first half points.
“Honestly, we disregarded the score in the first half. We just pulled through,” Potts said.
Slowly, the Red Lions picked away at the lead. With three minutes and 23 ticks remaining in the third canto, San Beda was able to gain its first lead of the game, 66-65, capped by a Radge Tongco triple. The two teams then exchanged buckets to eventually end the quarter in a deadlock, 72-72.
The tides of the game turned with 7:06 remaining in the game. With the game knotted at 75-all, Arellano big man Lervin Flores was assessed with a technical foul off a rebound. Flores composed himself for the rebound but made a motion of dropping the ball on Joe Presbitero’s head.
It sparked an 8-0 rally that gave San Beda an 83-75 lead. Tankoua then bullied the interior defense of Arellano in a 10-3 run to give San Beda a 95-83 lead with 2:32 remaining. The Bedan rally was capped by a huge breakaway dunk by Arnold Noah with 17.8 second to give San Beda a 101-86 lead, the biggest of the game.
“A lot of credit to Donnie, AC, and to the others. This is really a team effort,” Potts said. “At the end of the day, this is a team effort. That’s what matters.”
Jalalon led the Chiefs with 25 points. However, he shot just 8-for-19 from the field.
“Jiovani is the best point guard in the league, we know that,” Potts who guarded Jalalon for the majority of the game said. “I know it was a challenge but it was not just me. We made sure that we limited his production on his floor.”
Salado added 16 points for the Chiefs.
San Beda (6-0) next faces the Mapua Cardinals (5-1) on Thursday, July 28 at 4:00pm. Arellano (3-2) takes on the EAC Generals on Tuesday, July 26 at 12:00nn.
The Scores:
SBC (101) – Potts 31, Tankoua 28, Tongco 12, Noah 8, Presbitero 6, Soberano 6, Bolick 5, Sara 3, Mocon 1, Oftana 1, Alas 0, Carlos 0, Navarro 0.
AU (86) – Jalalon 25, Salado 16, Enriquez 12, Flores 10, Meca 7, Cadavis 6, Holts 4, Aguilar 3, Gumaru 3, Canete 0, Nicholls 0, Villoria 0.
Quarterscores: 10-19, 37-47, 72-72, 101-86.
