San Beda cops third place in PCCL

MANILA, Philippines — San Beda copped third place after disposing of Southwestern University, 64-56, in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League Tuesday at the San Juan Arena.

The Red Lions, who played sans Ola Adeogun, dominated the game by doubling the Cobras’ output in the payoff period to clinch the victory.

Softspoken Kyle Pascual paced the NCAA champion with 14 points, while three other red shirts chipped in double-digit contributions.

While San Beda and SWU matched up equally on almost all departments, the former had a more fluid passing which led to 22 assists.

It was a neck-and-neck match in the first three quarters, but a dagger triple from Baser Amer with 2:21 left in the play made sure there were no comebacks this time around.

Ben Mbala, who has been a revelation for the Cobras, led all scorers with 16 points while another Cameroonian in Justine Aboude finished with 11 points.

The first time these two teams met in the round-robin final four, the Red Lions squandered a 20-point lead but held on to a 73-72 win.