Red Lions set for more NCAA cage titles

More than re-asserting their tournament-long supremacy over the Arellano Chiefs in reclaiming the men’s basketball title in the NCAA Season 92 recently, the San Beda Red Lions also showed they are primed for another long title run again.

Their championship streak of five broken by the Letran Knights last year, the Lions came right back to return to the winners’ circle by sweeping their best-of-three title series against the Chiefs.

Bannered by rookies who took up key roles following the graduation of six regulars, the Lions first rolled back the Chiefs in Game 1, 88-85, before wrapping it up in Game 2 with an emphatic 83-73 victory.

Robert Bolick, who languished on the bench of La Salle in the UAAP for two years before joining the Lions, first joined hands with another newcomer, the 6-foot-6 Bicolano Benedict Adamos, then closed out the scoring for the game with four points to lift San Beda in Game 1.

He also did his part in Game 2 before fellow rookies Arnaud Noah, who was named Finals MVP, and Davon Potts and sophomore AC Soberano took over in the second half to settle the issue.

Second-year SBC coach Jamike Jarin, devastated by his loss to unheralded mentor Aldin Ayo and the Knights last year, was profuse with praise for the unexpected firepower and murderous poise of what was supposed to be a raw, untested squad.

“It was a heartbreaking loss last year and it took me a year to get back here and along the way I had all these young men supporting us,” he said after San Beda nailed its 20th title overall and ninth in the last 11 seasons.

Jarin had picked the 6-2 Noah instead of the 6-9 Nigerian Eugene Toba as backup for San Beda’s prized reinforcement Donald Tankoua, who was leading the Lions in scoring and rebounding until an injury ended his season early in the second round.

With a healthy Tankoua back next year, the Lions will be nothing short of formidable.

Arellano did put up a gallant fight behind a determined crew led by its crack guard Jio Jalalon, who unfortunately proved a deadweight when he was needed most. Jalalon cramped up in the last quarter of Game 1 and opted to pass when everybody expected him to shoot at crunchtime. In Game 2, he picked up three fouls in the first quarter and was hardly a factor since then.

The victory was the fifth straight this season by the Lions over the Chiefs, who also lost, 2-0, in their first title meeting in 2014. One of the wins came in their playoff for the No. 1 seed in the semifinals where the Lions went on to suffer a minor hiccup in losing to No. 4 semifinalist Perpetual Help. But San Beda ended all doubts regarding its title drive by whipping Perpetual in their playoff for the right to challenge Arellano, which advanced outright earlier at the expense of Mapua.

All told, San Beda has now beaten Arellano 22 times since the Chiefs debuted in 2009.

Incidentally, the Red Robins of Mapua ended the Cubs’ seven-year reign while raising their overall title collection to 20.