Red Lions cruise to rout of Bombers; Chiefs rebound from big loss to trip Altas

San Beda found the space it needed to go deep into its bench as it destroyed Jose Rizal University, 77-40, Tuesday to end its first round on a high note in the 94th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Calvin Oftana got his chance to shine and responded with a career-high 16 points, while rotation regular AC Soberano chipped in 11, built around three three-pointers, as the defending champions Red Lions logged their eighth win in nine outings.

That put San Beda right where it was last season, right behind the undefeated Pirates, who are on a nine-game run.

A game after exploding for 50 points, Robert Bolick took a back seat in this game and played just 17 minutes. He finished with four points on four attempts.

“I just want to give opportunity to my other players,” said San Beda mentor Boyet Fernandez, who dealt the Bombers their seventh defeat in nine matches.

Bolick established his career high in a 98-79 whipping of Arellano, which made sure it would bounce back after being on the raw end of a scorching scoring feat.

Leaning on its resiliency, Arellano clawed its way back from a 17-point second quarter deficit and repulsed Perpetual Help, 76-72, to end the first round on a bright note.

A faulty start by the Chiefs saw the Altas digging a 17-point hole and dropping them there, 17-34 about halfway to the second period.

But Arellano worked on the lead methodically, getting it to within a manageable 10 at the break.

The Chiefs turned things around and when they finally caught up at 70-all with a minute and a half to go in the game. That’s when they started making key stops in the stretch to snatch their fourth win against five defeats, good for the sixth spot in the first round.

“Coming from that big 50-point game by Bolick, we were really down and hurt,” said Arellano coach Jerry Codinera. “Way to bounce back with this down-to-the-wire finish.”

The Altas appeared to have taken control when they mounted that huge 17-point lead, but could not hold off a mini-rally by Arellano that put the Chiefs within, 28-38.

Worse, the the Las Piñas-based school’s offense turned sour as Arellano unloaded run after blistering run behind Kraniel Villoria, who finished with 15 points and Maui Sera Josef, who added 14.

The Altas thus suffered their first back-to-back defeat under coach Frankie Lim to slide to 5-4, just a notch above the Chiefs and still well within Final Four range.

It didn’t help Perpetual Help that they missed the services of Edgard Charcos, their top scorer who was sat out due to a knee injury he suffered in their last game.