San Beda Red Lions chase top spot against CSB Blazers

MANILA—San Beda hopes to keep its opponent guessing when it goes for a piece of the lead again in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament today.

The Red Lions, aiming to catch solo leader San Sebastian, tackle St. Benilde in a match that San Beda coach Frankie Lim described as the start of a tough stretch.

Gametime is at 4 p.m. at the FilOil-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

“We’ll come up with something different,” said Lim. “My guess is they’re (Blazers) going to zone us. We’ll give them different looks.”

San Beda has actually won its last 21 NCAA games, including last year’s 18-0 perfect season.

Jose Rizal University, tied with the Blazers at 1-2, shoot for a second straight victory against the struggling Mapua in the first game at 2 p.m.

The Cardinals, tagged as strong contenders this season, remain winless in three games even with 6-foot-7 Filipino-Palestinian Yousef Taha at the helm.

Although the defending champion Lions thumped their first three opponents by an average of 25 points, the Blazers are hoping to build on their 70-67 upset of the Cardinals last week.

“It’s a confidence-builder and we hope to carry that in our next game,” said St. Benilde coach Richard del Rosario.

And this is the reason the Lions—fueled by the strong plays of Garvo Lanete, Kyle Pascual and Jake Pascual—remain wary of the Blazers.

“We’re on to our games against the big teams; it will start getting tougher and tougher,” said Lim.

Jan Tan stepped up for the Blazers in their first victory, burying 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and grabbing four rebounds.

“[Tan] is a big man with a good shooting touch from the perimeter and he needs to gain confidence to be a good player,” said Del Rosario, who’s relying on main man Carlo Lastimosa.