MANILA, Philippine – Drawing huge effort from its second stringers, San Beda blew out Letran, 84-68, and grabbed the other twice-to-beat incentive Friday in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball competition.
With Garvo Lanete just blowing out everyone with 28 points, Anthony and David Semerad and rookie Baser Amer provided solid back up as the Red Lions scored their 15th victory and 12th straight over the Knights.
“It’s all about winning big games. My bigs were in foul trouble so I relied on other guys,” said San Beda head coach Frankie Lim. “These guys contributed a lot.”
Anthony Semerad finished with 16 points on a 60 percent three-point shooting clip while his twin brother David added eight points. Amer, meanwhile, pitched in eight points and seven dimes.
San Beda posted a 20-point advantage, 69-49, early in the fourth quarter even only with their second unit on the floor.
Aside from their free-flowing offense, the Red Lions also put a clamp on Letran’s explosive slasher Kevin Alas and held him to an awful start for a 14-point total.
“We tried to stop him [Kevin Alas]. That was the key,” added Lim, who also admits to have been preparing for their last assignment – San Sebastian – for the past week.
The Knights first lost control in the second quarter, but were able to stop the raging momentum and penetrate the tough interior defense of the Red Lions the rest of the match.
Letran dropped its fourth assignment and would have to go about making the finals the harder way – overcoming the twice-to-beat advantage either of the Red Lions or the Stags.