Lions target lead share vs Dolphins

Three-peat seeking San Beda shoots for a share of the lead with idle Letran as it tangles with a winless Philippine Christian U side today in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Astrodome.

The Lions, who opened their campaign with a romp over the Mapua Cardinals last week, are heavily favored over the Dolphins in the 4 p.m. rematch of the 2006 championship protagonists. PCU dropped its first two games.

“They have good players and will be hard to beat. They also have (Beau) Belga who can match-up well with (Sam) Ekwe,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim.

Mapua, meanwhile, guns for its third straight win after an opening day loss as it clashes with Perpetual Help at 2 p.m.

The Cardinals are currently at third spot with a 2-1 (win-loss) slate while the Altas tote an even 1-1 mark.

The SBC-PCU match should be a return duel between the teams that figured in the 2006 finale where San Beda virtually won it after Belga missed a wide-open jumper at the buzzer of the deciding Game Three that would have clinched PCU the title had it gone in.

Belga, who missed what could‘ve been a title-clinching jumper at the buzzer in the deciding Game Three in the 2006 finals, is back for one last time for the Dolphins.

“I just want to play for the last time for the school that helped me to get where I am now,” said the 6-5 Belga.

The Dolphins are raring to bounce back from their setbacks to the St. Benilde Blazers, 65-69, and the Cardinals, 71-77.

Aside from Belga, the other holdovers of the 2006 runner-up team before the team served out a one-year suspension last year are Leimar Navarro and Lisztian Amparado.

“We are coming off a 10-day break although we did a lot of work in preparing for the game,” said PCU mentor Joel Dualan.