SAN Beda University beat Lyceum of the Philippines University, 75-68, on Thursday, a victory that reared the Red Lions’ sharp fangs against the title-pretender Pirates in National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 94 seniors basketball action at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
The defending champion Red Lions, however, almost blew away a 20-point lead when the Pirates charged back in the fourth quarter.
Good thing, luck was on San Beda’s side and the Red Lions made key defensive stops and pounced on a costly Pirates turnover with 16.3 seconds left to post their 16th win in 17 games.
“We’re happy we got this one. Everybody’s saying that we can’t beat Lyceum. That was really our motivation,” San Beda Head Coach Boyet Fernandez said.
“I’m just happy the guys stepped up today. But it was really our defense that made us win,” he added.
True enough, the Red Lions limited their opponents to way below their season average of 87.6 points.
After norming 19.2 points in the past 17 games, reigning Most Valuable Player CJ Perez was a marked man as San Beda shackled him to just nine points—his free-throw shooting also going down to a woeful 1 of 6.
More important, the Mendiola-based squad flexed its muscle in a display of resiliency after a 66-73 setback to the Pirates in the first round.
Robert Bolick scored 18 points and had five rebounds for San Beda. Rookie revelation James Canlas poured in a career-high 18 points that went with six boards.
The Pirates were in complete disarray in the second quarter with lengthy stretches of missed opportunities. The Red Lions capitalized on those duds by their foes to lead in double figures in several occasions with Bolick in command.
The lead ballooned to 59-39 on a 20-8 blitz by San Beda to start the second half.
Showing its own resilient form, Lyceum embarked on a huge comeback to trim the deficit to five, 68-73, with less than a minute to play.
With a chance to make it a one-possession game, Spencer Pretta turned the ball over after losing his balance from a Reymar Caduyac pass from the corner.
That proved to be the fatal blow as Bolick sank his charities for his team’s thrilling escape.
Mike Nzeusseu led Lyceum with 16 points and six rebounds, while Jaycee Marcelino, the spark in Lyceum’s fourth-quarter assault, added 14 points and nine rebounds.
After a sweep of last season’s elimination rounds, the Pirates ended this year’s regular season with a 15-3 record.
San Beda closes out its regular season against University of Perpetual on Tuesday.
Image credits: Alysa Salen