Red Cubs hold off Baby Tams

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda held FEU to just five points in the first quarter then went on to post an 85-62 rout in the juniors division of the Filoil Flying V Pre-Season Invitational Cup at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Red Cubs clamped down on defense early and held the Baby Tams scoreless for four minutes while Ivan Gotladera fired 10 points as San Beda race to an early 14-point lead and never looked back.

The Taytay-based squad posted leads of as many as 27 points in the third period before coasting to their second straight victory in Group B.

With Marc Tanoy scoring on a triple and a twinner, the Baby Tams cut the lead to 18 points but Baser Amer knocked in eight of his 12 points in the fourth to power the Cubs to 20-point leads again.

“Our goal is to win back-to back in the NCAA. We are working on building our character and our killer instinct here in the league as we offer every game to coach Ato Badolato,” said San Beda coach Brit Reroma. “I told the boys to play all 40 minutes of basketball. We have to start strong and finish strong.”

Earlier, Adamson also used a strong start to topple Mapua, 112-90, and pick up its second win in three starts, also in Group B.

The Baby Falcons built a 25-point bulge heading into the third period then thwarted the Red Robins’ fightback en route to victory.

“We had a good start. I guess that’s the best thing,” said Adamson coach Jing Ruiz. “The boys still carried the trauma of their two losses to San Beda. I told the boys that if they don’t play well this time around, they would be cut from the team. I guess that became their motivation. And I knew from the start that they could do it because I have seen that in them.”