Filoil Pre-Season cup: San Beda pulls away in 4th to beat JRU

MANILA, Philippines — San Beda broke away in the fourth quarter and defeated Jose Rizal University, 67-55, for its first win in the 2013 Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup Wednesday at the Arena in San Juan.

Although plagued by sloppy ball handling, the Red Lions went on a 10-2 blitz starting from a buzzer beater layup by Yvan Ludovice to end the third and a five-point swing from Rome Dela Rosa with 7:18 left to play.

“We played really bad, and we had a lot of turnovers and gave up a lot of turnover points,” said head coach Boyet Fernandez in the post-game interview.

Sans starting guard Baser Amer, San Beda turned the ball over 22 times and gave the Bombers 15 points off those errors, and Ola Adeogun admitted they were still not in top form.

“Playing without Amer, we were struggling. We’re nowhere near 60 percent,” said the Nigerian center who had 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Now skipper Dela Rosa added 16 points, seven in the fourth to keep the Red Lions from being threatened by the Bombers.

JRU pulled within 51-55 halfway through the fourth, but Dela Rosa nailed a bucket and got the foul. Although he missed the freebie, Adoegun was there to covert the putback and stretch the lead.

“I’m happy for Rome and Ola. They stepped up for us,” said Fernandez.

Paolo Pontejos torched his former team with 18 points, three assists and two steals but accounted for four of the 16 turnovers of the Bombers.