Red Lions a win from semifinals

Fast and ferocious, San Beda showed no mercy in a 73-44 rout of fierce rival Letran yesterday to move within a win of a Final Four berth in the 90th NCAA basketball season at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Red Lions broke out of the gates hard and weathered an early storm in the second half on their way to avenging their first round loss to the Knights, whose Final Four hopes are now hanging by a thread.

The victory lifted the defending champion Lions to
12-2, while the Knights fell to 6-8, putting them in danger of missing out on the Final Four for the first time since 2010.

So consumed by their 53-64 loss in the first round exactly a month ago, the Lions had vowed to get back at the Knights with both coach Boyet Fernandez and Nigerian center Ola Adeogun declaring their desire for revenge last week.

And the Lions backed up that statement with a tenacious effort on both ends of the floor. San Beda held Letran to just 20 percent shooting (14-of-70), including a horrendous 1-of-21 from beyond the arc.

“We’re happy that we got this game,” said Fernandez. “If we lost this game, it would have been disappointing because we don’t know if we will play Letran again this season.”

So dominant were the Lions defensively that the Knights couldn’t get anything going in the first 15 minutes, trailing 12-29.

When the Knights finally gained some momentum, a contested offensive foul call on Letran forward Kevin Racal’s three-point shot spoiled a potential comeback in the second period.  Racal made the triple but it was nullified as he was called for an offensive foul.

The scores:
SAN BEDA 73—Dela Cruz 17, Adeogun 14, Pascual 11, Koga 6, Amer 6, Mendoza 6, Abude 4, D. Semerad 4, A. Semerad 2, Tongco 2, Mocon 1, Cabanag 0, Sara 0. Abatayo, Solera 0.
LETRAN 44—Cruz 10, Racal 8, Publico 7, Ruaya 4, Tambeling 4, Apreku 3, Quinto 3, Gabawan 3, Nambatac 2, Calvo 0, Castro 0, Saldua 0, Luib 0, Dela Pena 0, Singontiko 0.
Quarters: 17-8, 37-18, 55-34, 73-44