San Beda holds off tough EAC; Tankoua exits with injured knee

FILE—San Beda’s Davon Potts. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

San Beda staved off Emilio Aguinaldo College, 90-82, to notch its 10th win in the NCAA Season 92 men’s basketball tournament Friday at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

AC Soberano showed why he is the NCAA’s three-point king, draining two huge treys to put the Red Lions ahead 88-82 with 49.4 seconds to play that finally put away the pesky Generals.

“As I’ve said, everything’s going to be tougher in the second round. If you look at EAC’s record, it doesn’t show how well they’re playing, and they’re really playing well. We have to give credit to the Generals,” said coach Jamike Jarin.

Davon Potts led the cavalry with 21 points and six rebounds, while Radge Tongco had 12 markers on a 2-of-5 shooting from threes.

Benedict Adamos also stepped up in the absence of injured Donald Tankoua, finishing with 11 points and four boards, while Javee Mocon got 10 markers, four assists, and two rebounds to keep San Beda at the top of the standings at 10-1.

Jarin admitted that Tankoua’s knee injury, which he suffered midway in the first quarter after a bad landing from a drive, truly affected the psyche of the Red Lions.

San Beda’s Donald Tankoua writhes in pain after a botched landing. Photo by Randolph Leongson

“Because of the injury of Tankoua, everybody is just worried. Na-off balanced kami. We got scatter brains in the third quarter,” he said.

Fortunately for San Beda, Adamos held fort before Soberano struck in the final 1:23 with his back-to-back treys.

“You just have to surprise them. We found a way to give the ball to the open man and we executed very well twice,” said Jarin.

Sidney Onwubere’s superhuman effort of 19 points, 18 rebounds, six blocks, and five assists went to waste as EAC fell to a 3-8 slate.

Hamadou Laminou also got 18 markers, 17 boards, and five rejections in the tough defeat.

The Scores:

SAN BEDA 90 – Potts 20, Tongco 12, Adamos 11, Mocon 10, Bolick 8, Soberano 8, Noah 8, Tankoua 5, Presbitero 3, Oftana 2, Alas 2, Sara 0, Bonsubre 0, Carlos 0, Navarro 0.
EAC 82 – Onwubere 19, Laminou 18, Munsayac 15, King 14, Morada 13, Diego 2, Pascua 1, Neri 0, Corilla 0, Guzman 0, Mendoza 0.

Quarters: 27-18, 48-37, 66-67, 90-82.