San Beda escapes TIP, faces Letran in NCC Final Four

Donald Pierre Tankoua. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

San Beda College has ended the fairy-tale journey of the Technological Institute of the Philippines in the National Collegiate Championship.

Although playing with fresh legs, the Red Lions squandered a 20-point lead before pulling off a 79-77 escape act against the Engineers Tuesday at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Lions, already seeded in the tournament by virtue of placing second in the recent NCAA senior basketball wars, face their finals tormentor Letran Knights Wednesday in the Final Four.

Robert Bolick had 13 points, four rebounds and four blocks for the Lions, who saw their 49-29 lead vanish in the closing minutes.

The Engineers played their fifth game in a week but showed no trace of fatigue as they gamely fought the Lions with Jemuel Namocatcat, Terrence Tumalip, Joshua Alcober and Nino Ibanes on attack mode.

Ibanes drilled a corner three with a fraction of a second remaining and the Lions just milked the clock on the other side to arrange a rematch of this year’s NCAA championship with the Knights.