Red Cubs pound Eaglets, bag Filoil junior title

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda put its act together in the fourth quarter as it foiled Ateneo, 78-69, to capture the Filoil Flying V Accel Badolato Juniors Cup crown at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Red Cubs squandered a 12-point lead in the third quarter as they regrouped and outfoxed the Eaglets with a fluid offensive game in the last period to clinch the championship.

Baser Amer took over for SBC down the stretch, unloading five straight points to give the Red Cubs a nine-point lead with one minute left in the contest.

“The good thing about it is we know how to finish the game,” said SBC coach Brit Reroma. “We have been finishing all our games in routs and this is a positive thing for us because it makes us realize that it is not all the time that we’ll get to have one-sided games. But still, I am very happy with the result as we offer this victory to coach Ato Badolato.”

San Beda raced to a 46-34 in the third but the Red Cubs sputtered in the face of the Eaglets’ fightback behind RP youth mainstays Kiefer Ravena and Paolo Romero, who came through with back-to-back baskets that lifted the Loyola-based squad to a 65-62 lead with six minutes remaining in the game.

But the Red Cubs countered with eight unanswered points and regained the lead at 70-65 then thwarted the Eaglets’ rally to pound out the victory.

“I know I should have a neutral stand, but of course, deep inside, I am very happy,” said Badolato, the league commissioner and former San Beda coach.

Amer and Fonzo Gotladera paced the Red Cubs with double-double games of 17 points and 13 assists and 19 rebounds and 17 points, respectively, while Daniel Nazareno added 14 points.

La Salle Greenhills reasserted its mastery over San Sebastian as it carved out a 82-77 to clinch third place honors.