Red Lions secure Final Four bonus, outgun Chiefs

Defending champion San Beda came out on top in a fourth-quarter shootout with Arellano to hack out an 82-75 victory that assured the Red Lions of a twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four of the 88th NCAA basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Arena.

The Lions took the Chiefs’ best punches and survived behind the clutch shooting of Baser Amer and Rome dela Rosa who clinched for San Beda its 13th victory in 15 outings.

Amer poured 11 of his 13 points in the fourth period, which the Lions opened with a 10-0 run to seize control.

Up until Amer and Dela Rosa knocked in back-to-back treys to start the quarter, the Lions were on their heels as James Forrester frolicked on offense for the Chiefs.

On attack mode, Forrester took the game to San Beda’s big men and found his stride from the outside, finishing with a career-high 28 points in just 23 minutes. The Fil-Canadian finished with a 7-of-10 clip from beyond the arc.

But that wasn’t enough as the Chiefs became the third team to be eliminated from Final Four contention.

“In the end it was all about composure and learning how to play through the difficulties,” said San Beda rookie coach Ronnie Magsanoc.

Meanwhile, the NCAA management committee yesterday junked Perpetual Help’s protest of its 71-74 loss to Mapua last Monday.

Mancom chair Fr. Vic Calvo of Letran said the body upheld the recommendation of tournament commissioner Joe Lipa, who stood by the judgment calls made by the referees.

The Mancom denied Perpetual Help’s appeal to replay the game and to downgrade the disqualifying foul imposed on Altas center Femi Babayemi, who has been slapped with an automatic one-game suspension.

The scores:

First Game

SAN BEDA 82—J. Pascual 16, Amer 13, Dela Rosa 13, Dela Cruz 10, Adeogun 8, K. Pascual 7, Koga 6, Villaruz 4, Ludovice 3, Caram 2, Lim 0.

ARELLANO 75—Forrester 28, Hernandez 11, Bangga 10, Pinto 8, Acidre 8, Caperal 6, Salcedo 2, Zulueta 2, Lunas 0.

Quarters: 22-14, 46-39, 57-61, 82-75