San Beda couldn’t have picked a better opponent to regain its fiery form.
Ranged against fierce rival and last season’s finals conqueror, the Letran Knights, the Red Lions showed they had more than enough firepower to hammer out an 83-71 victory in an ill-tempered 92nd NCAA basketball tournament clash yesterday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Benedict Adamos, Jayvee Mocon and Davon Potts kept the Lions’ heads above water in a highly physical endgame with clutch baskets as San Beda, playing its second game without Donald Tankoua, roared to the solo lead with its 11th win in 13 games.
The game took an ugly turn with seven seconds left when Letran forward Bong Quinto was slapped with an offensive foul on Jomari Presbitero, sparking a near free-for-all that marked San Beda-Letran matches in the past.
“It’s a heated rivalry that goes on for the longest time,” said Lions coach Jamike Jarin, who was also slapped with a technical foul in the aftermath of the incident.
“It got physical before the end of the game, but that’s just how these two schools compete. We apologize if we did something ungentlemanly. We will control our emotions next time.”
San Sebastian continued its second round turnaround with a stunning 69-67 triumph over Mapua, while Jose Rizal U turned back Lyceum, 68-58, to boost its Final Four hopes.
The Stags rallied from 18 points down in the first period and climbed out of a five-point hole down stretch as they stopped another Top Four team for their third straight victory.
“We’re starting to learn to win and I’m happy for the team,” said San Sebastian coach Egay Macaraya, whose team also beat San Beda and Perpetual Help in the second round.
Ryan Costelo fired a game-high 20 points while Michael Calisaan contributed 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Stags, who improved to 4-9.
Tey Teodoro took over in the fourth quarter with 10 of his game-high 21 points in the final period as they climbed to a share of fourth with the Cardinals with a 7-5 record.
The Pirates and Knights, who lost their fifth straight game, slid to 5-7.
The scores:
First Game
SAN SEBASTIAN 69—Costelo 20, Calisaan 15, Ilagan 12, Bulanadi 8, Capobres 4, Gayosa 3, Mercado 3, Fabian 2, Calma 2, Baetiong 0, David 0, Johnson 0, Quipse 0, Sera Josef 0, Valdez 0.
MAPUA 67—Oraeme 16, Menina 12, Estrella 9, Victoria 9, Isit 6, Raflores 6, Bunag 4, Eriobu 4, Serrano 1, Biteng 0, Orquina 0.
Quarters: 8-25, 27-38, 50-46, 69-67