MANILA, Philippines — Dominating the glass when it needed most, St. Benilde-La Salle Greenhills stunned San Beda, 85-82, in game one to even the playing field in the 87th NCAA juniors basketball finals Monday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Although were outrebounded in the game 51 to 39, the Greenies secured the crucial boards down the stretch which salvaged them from their horrendous shooting from the stripe.
Forward Andre Paras, son of PBA legend Benjie Paras, stepped up for La Salle in the payoff period by banging in 11 of his 13 points while hauling down four rebounds.
“That’s how he worked his way, the minutes. The way he defends and gets those rebounds,” said La Salle head coach John Flores.
Paras soared over the Red Cubs bigs and nailed an and-one opportunity with a little over a minute left in the game which gave the Greenies lead anew, 83-82—which they held on to until the end.
Despite missing six straight free throws within the final minute—the squad’s tenacity to fight for the rebound and the loose ball carried La Salle to their first win over San Beda this season.
The finals is now down to a best-of-three series as the Greenies virtually tied it a 1-1 and wiped the Red Cubs virtual 1-0 lead, which was an incentive for sweeping the eliminations.
“The most important thing for us was to win this game because we hope this will change the complexion of the series,” said Flores. “I’m glad the boys pulled through and defended well.”
Star forward Jon Villaruz rose to the occasion with 22 points, 10 from the third quarter where the Greenies, who are hoping to bag their first title in history, prevented the Red Cubs from taking over.
San Beda, which suffered its only loss this season, seemed ready to pull away after taking its biggest lead of the game, 67-73, early in the fourth quarter but couldn’t sustain the energy.
Limuel Patenio led the Red Cubs, who are gunning for a third straight title, with 19 points while mythical five member Von Abatayo with 16 points and six rebounds.