Lions roar to title clash vs Bombers

San Beda used a man-to-man defense to throw Mapua’s game out-of-sync and let its offense take its own course to hack out a 60-53 victory at the Astrodome yesterday and arrange an interesting showdown with Jose Rizal for the NCAA men’s basketball crown.

Abandoning their vaunted zone defense, the Lions turned a weakness into a strong point as they took away the Cardinals’ outside game with a man-to-man defense then leaned on Ogie Menor’s explosion to turn back the Cardinals and remain on course of their three-peat bid with a third straight trip to the finals.

Game 1 of the best-of-three title playoff starts tomorrow at the Araneta Coliseum. Game 2 is set Friday with a decider, if necessary, slated on Monday.

“I thought that our weakness was the man-to-man defense, but tonight they proved me wrong. I thought our willingness to play defense sealed the win,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim.

Menor sizzled with 17 points, including nine in a telling San Beda run in the fourth quarter while Borgie Hermida and rookie Jake Pascual tossed in 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Menor took charge for San Beda in the final period, pulling off tight jumpers and squeezing for twinners in traffic as the Lions built enough lead to cushion the Cardinals’ last-ditch rally.

“The guy excels when it comes to big games like this. He’s unbelievable, he’s very gutsy, he will go for it no matter what,” said Lim of last year’s Finals MVP.

The San Beda-Jose Rizal finale thus marks the first time that the two teams will play each other in a championship since they clashed in 1967 with the Bombers winning the crown.

Jose Rizal, which clinched the No. 2 seeding in the Final Four, beat Letran, 63-61, in the semis.

“I told my guys I want them to be happy but I also told them not to be too happy because the job is not yet done, we have Jose Rizal to play in the finals,” said Lim.

Also making his presence felt was the 6-3 Pascual.

The rookie from Ramos, Tarlac had a solid all-around game as he finished with 13 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two shot blocks.

“I owe it to San Beda, that’s why I’m giving it all and trying to do my part,” said Pascual.

The Cardinals, who forced the sudden death with a thrilling 53-51 win Friday, set the pace in the early going and led by as many as nine points, 33-24, late in the second quarter.

But they failed to sustain that charge in the second half as they choked in the face of the Lions’ seldom-used defense.