MANILA, Philippines—The player they fought for at the beginning of the season delivered when their season was on the line.
A tenacious performance by Jake Pascual lifted San Beda College to a 60-53 victory over Mapua Institute of Technology in their knockout showdown Monday, keeping the Red Lions on track for a third consecutive NCAA men’s basketball crown at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
Ogie Menor made nine of his 17 points in the final period as the Red Lions forged a best-of-three duel against the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers starting Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
One of five ineligible players of the Philippine Christian University juniors team three years ago, Pascual was banned by the NCAA, until San Beda’s appeal was granted by the league policy board before the start of the season.
And for the 19-year-old, it was only fitting that he played his heart out for the school that gave his budding basketball career a new lease on life.
“All season long, I wanted to show that I deserve to be here and repay San Beda for giving me a chance to play,” said the 6-foot-4 Pascual, who finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds, three steals and two crucial fourth-quarter blocks.
The Cardinals forced a do-or-die showdown with a 53-51 win over the Lions Friday.
Playing their fourth game in eight days, however, they looked fagged-out and lost steam after taking a 33-24 lead late in the second quarter.
Menor scored on a difficult post-up move to give the Lions a 55-49 lead with 1:10 left. And, as if to signal the end of the road for Mapua, he made an executioner’s gesture in front of the Cardinals’ fans.
“What can I say, the guy excels in these kinds of situations,” San Beda coach Frankie Lim said, referring to the 6-foot-2 Menor.
Unlike in their first game, the Lions got off strongly and banked on a constricting half-court defense to contain King Cardinal Kelvin Dela Peña, who went 5-of-22 for 12 points in his last game in the NCAA.
“I think it boiled down to our willingness to play defense,” Lim said, after the Lions held the Cardinals to 31 percent shooting.
“I thought our weakness was playing 1-on-1 defense. But we showed a lot of heart today.”
Mapua was still in it with 1:02 left when rookie-of-the-year Allan Mangahas nailed a short jumper.
But Borgie Hermida and Pong Escobal combined for 5-for-6 from the line to wrap up the win.
San Beda center Sam Ekwe, who was named Most Valuable Player for the second time in three years last Saturday, bounced back from a pair of sub-par games by scoring nine points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
The scores:
SAN BEDA 60—Menor 17, Hermida 14, Pascual 13, Ekwe 9, Escobal 5, Gamalinda 2, Tirona 0, Taganas 0, Marcelo 0.
MAPUA 53—Dela Peña 12, Pascual N. 11, Mangahas 8, Mazo 7, Banal 7, Sarangay 5, Pascual J. 3.
Quarters: 22-16, 28-33, 44-41, 60-53
