NCAA: San Beda loses big lead, survives San Sebastian

San Beda’s James Kwekuteye. NCAA PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—San Beda blew a commanding lead before holding off San Sebastian, 78-71, in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at San Juan Arena.

The Red Lions came out swinging and took a 25-2 in the first quarter but had to survive a second-half flurry by the Stags to even their record at 2-2.

“It’s good that we experienced these types of games because our first win against EAC, we had a huge lead. The really good thing I liked was we made stops in the end,” San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta said.

It was a free throw battle down the stretch with San Beda’s JB Bahio scoring the lone field goal in the final five minutes of the game.

The Lions, who proved to be the steadier team late, sank 9-of-10 at the charity stripe while the Stags made seven of their eight freebies.

James Kwekuteye finished with a game-high 20 points for San Beda, which rebounded from an 89-81 loss to Lyceum on Saturday.

San Sebastian didn’t go down without a fight despite falling down big early. The Stags kept clawing back and even pulled within two, 59-57, heading into the fourth quarter.

Jessie Sumoda had 19 points, including 15 in the first half, for the Stags, who slipped to 2-2.