Red Lions thwart Tams, boost quarters bid

MANILA, Philippines - Reigning NCAA champion San Beda came back strong from its recent United States trip as it held off Far Eastern U, 80-76, to boost its quarterfinal drive in the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at The Arena in San Juan last Saturday.

Skipper Rome dela Cruz exploded with 18 points while Nigerian behemoth Ola Adeogun bullied his way to 15 points as the Lions, seeking a fourth straight NCAA crown this coming Season 89, sealed their third win against a loss to move up in Group A.

The Tams took their third loss against the same number of wins.

Earlier, University of the East erected a double-digit lead, blew it and checked itself in time to turn back Santo Tomas, 85-66, and close in on a quarterfinal berth.

Ralf Olivarez led the Warriors with 17 points while Jay-R Sumido and Roi Sumang chipped in 16 and 15 points, respectively, to seal the Recto-based cagers their fourth win against two defeats. They need one more victory to advance to the quarters.

Up 44-28 at the half, the Tigers went on attack mode in the third period and slowly but surely crawled their way back to within 54-57 highlighted by three straight triples by Clark Bautista and Kevin Ferrer.

UST also dropped to 3-3.