Red Lions a victory shy of sweep, nail No. 15 with win over Knights
MANILA—San Beda nailed a 15th straight win by downing Letran, 74-56, Friday even as Arellano pulled off the biggest upset of the 86th NCAA basketball tournament at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Rome dela Rosa fired 19 points, while Sudan Daniel banged in 14 points and pulled down 19 rebounds as the Lions moved within a victory of completing a 16-game sweep of the elimination and an automatic berth in the Finals.
“It feels good, but I want to be 16-0, something that has never been achieved by our program,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim.
The Lions, who matched San Sebastian’s record of 15 straight wins achieved last season, go for the sweep Wednesday against the Stags, who were upset by the Arellano Chief earlier.
Playing with nothing to lose, the Chiefs stunned the defending champion San Sebastian Stags, 64-62, on a jumper by Adrian Celada with 10.2 seconds remaining.
The Chiefs led by as many as 15 points in the fourth period only to allow the Stags to tie the game at 62 on Jonathan Semira’s jumper.
In a bid to stop San Beda’s running game, Letran resorted to fouls, leading to a total of 48 free throws, 33 of which the Lions converted.
In junior action, the San Beda Red Cubs walloped the Letran Squires, 86-71, to improve to 14-1.
The Staglets dumped Arellano, 81-59, to clinch the twice-to-beat bonus.
The senior scores:
First Game
ARELLANO 64—Celada 22, Ciriacruz 18, Acidre 10, del Rosario 6, Lapuz 3, Zulueta 2, Palma 0, Casino 0, Caperal 0, Virtudazo 0.
SAN SEBASTIAN 62—Abueva 21, Semira 16, Najorda 7, Bulawan 6, Sangalang 4, del Rio 4, Gorospe 2, Raymundo 2.
Quarters: 14-7, 34-26, 54-39, 64-62
Second Game
SAN BEDA 74—dela Rosa 19, Daniel 14, J. Pascual 11, Marcelo 10, D. Semerad 5, Hermida 4, Lanete 4, A. Semerad 3, Caram 2, Villahermosa 2, K. Pascual 0.
LETRAN 56—Ke. Alas 18, Cortes 7, Belencion 6, Kr. Alas 6, Dysam 4, Belorio 4, Espiritu 3, Pantin 2, Taplah 2, Almazan 2, Rodil 2, Roxas 0.
Quarters: 17-15, 32-27, 48-39, 74-56
