Bismarck banners Beda blitz; Yam gives Mapua extra flavor

San Beda’s Bismarck Lina during an NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball game. –NCAA Photo

San Beda made sure there was no room for upsets on Saturday.

The Red Lions got back at the Arellano Chiefs, teeing up a 79-65 victory in the NCAA Season 100 basketball tournament that solidified their hold of second spot as the final round of preliminaries continues to unfold.

Not only was there no surprise this time, Any trace of revenge was also erased.

“We did a better job today (Saturday),” said San Beda coach Yuri Escueta. “One addition [we had in our game] was we [made sure] to respect our opponent.”

“I felt like [we took] them lightly and we needed to respect them [and] defend against them properly,” added the former Ateneo guard, whose wards lost a 72-70 decision to Arellano last month.

Bismarck Lina helped in making sure there was no repeat of that.

Playing in just his third game since recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury that sidelined him for nine months, Lina fired 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench in one of his best performances so far since leaving University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP.

Cardinals, Lions tied

En route to San Beda, the 6-foot-5 Lina was part of the 2022 University of the Philippines champion team before joining the Red Lions.

“For somebody who we can rely on in the post, [he is a big help] especially to our shooters,” said Escueta of the former Batang Gilas member.

Among the shooters who benefited from the extra defensive attention Lina attracted down low was Yukien Andrada, who knocked down four triples on the way to 15 points for the Lions.

With Lina hitting his stride, San Beda stitched up a fourth straight victory—all coming after the loss to the Chiefs in the first round—and seventh overall in 10 games.

Jomel Puno, meanwhile, was as solid as an oak for San Beda, collecting 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds as the Lions send the Chiefs to their seventh defeat in 10 outings.

Mapua matched San Beda’s record in the other game, with Yam Concepcion coming through with a career-high performance to lead the Cardinals to a 75-71 victory over the Jose Rizal Heavy Bombers.

Concepcion’s career-high 19 points gave Mapua what it had long been looking for: Another solid contributor to help its big three of Clint Escamis, Chris Hubilla and Marc Cuenco.

Concepcion also had a career-best five blocks along with eight rebounds to supplement the efforts of the Cardinals’ top guns. Escamis finished with 14 points, Hubilla added 13, while Cuenco chipped in 10 as Mapua also climbed to 7-3 (win-loss).