MANILA, Philippines—San Beda subdued University of the Philippines, 66-56, even as Letran, Arellano and St. Benilde-A fended off respective foes to enter the semifinals of the Fr. Martin Cup Collegiate Open basketball tournament.
Baser Amer and Rome de la Rosa fired 12 points each for the Red Lions, who used a third quarter run to eliminate the Maroons, 66-56, and keep their title retention bid alive.
A three point play from de la Rosa and a dunk from Nigerian center Olaide Adeogun allowed the Red Lions to stage a 14-4 run which stretched their lead, 49-39, in the remaining 4:23.
Letran, meanwhile, leaned on guard Mark Cruz to bump off College of St. Benilde-B, 68-64, to join the Red Lions in the semifinals.
Cruz kept the Knights afloat in the final period with his five clutch freebies, including two in the final 23 seconds, to finish with 24 big points.
The Blazers-A showed the erstwhile-undefeated Adamson the door out with a 50-46 victory and notched a seat in the final four.
Up by just two, 46-48, Luis Sinco canned two charities in the last 27.6 seconds, enabling CSB-A to stay out of harm’s way.
Meanwhile, Brian Nichols hit 14 points for Arellano University, which outplayed Informatics, 70-63, and set up a semis tiff with the Red Lions, according to commissioner Robert de la Rosa.
The Knights and the Blazers-A clash in the other semifinals match up next Saturday at Trinity University of Asia gym.