The Red Lions remain at the top spot of the NCAA men’s basketball for the 10th straight year. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
San Beda has held the top spot for the longest time and it kept the trend going after an 83-78 win over Letran in a playoff for the No. 1 seed Tuesday in the NCAA Season 91 men’s basketball tournament at Mall of Asia Arena.
The undersized Knights had no answer for the Red Lions center Ola Adeogun, who was a man among boys in the shaded area with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting on top of nine rebounds and a block.
Adeogun capped off his performance with the go-ahead basket, 80-78, off a set play with 17.2 seconds left.
“No complains. At least we were able to get the twice-to-beat advantage. I’m happy with the way we played in the elimination round and in the playoff,” said San Beda head coach Jamike Jarin. “But that doesn’t matter anymore. Whatever you did in the elimination round, it doesn’t matter anymore. Now, it’s the games that you need to win.”
“Credit his teammates because they were the ones who gave him the ball. Actually it’s not just him, it’s all the players we fielded in,” Jarin said of the Nigerian center.
The Lions have been the No. 1 seed entering the Final Four since 2006 during the time of Sam Ekwe.
San Beda had to earn the top spot with Letran giving all it could and nearly stole the game.
Mark Cruz set up Tom Sollano for the three-point play for the game’s only deadlock at 78 with 35 ticks remaining before Adeogun’s inside bucket and a putback off a missed free throw by Baser Amer that clinched the game.
“I’ll be lying if there’s no pressure because anytime you come into a big program like San Beda. There will be pressure, there will be a lot of expectations,” Jarin told reporters.
“But the thing is, I’m excited because I’m home. I’m with my high school buddies, my college buddies and my teachers. So it’s always nice to go home.”
The Knights threatened to foil the Lions’ plans of finishing at the top with Cruz spearheading the team’s rally from a double-digit deficit in second half.
Cruz unloaded a game-high 29 points, 12 coming in the fourth quarter, in a performance far from the one he had in Letran’s 77-73 loss to San Beda in the second round exactly a week ago where he had 12 points on 2-of-13 shooting from the field.
Letran guard Rey Nambatac tweaked his right ankle after stepping on San Beda’s Dan Sara’s foot in the fourth quarter and did not return.
San Beda will face the loser between Mapua and Jose Rizal University in a playoff for the third spot on Friday in the Final Four, which starts next week.