Lions edge Tigers for 3rd place finish in Filoil tiff

MANILA, Philippines – San Beda College outlasted a pesky University of Santo Tomas side, hacking out a thrilling 74-70 victory for a second runner-up finish in the Fil-Oil Flying V Premier Cup The Arena in San Juan Wednesday.

San Beda’s Ola Adeogun came away with a couple of big plays on the defensive end while Art Dela Cruz sank four clutch free throws to stave off a furious rally from UST.

With a close game at the start of the final canto, the Lions stringed together an 11-0 blast capped by Francis Abarcar’s free throws to take a 68-57 lead with 3:14 remaining.

Staying true to their fighting form, the Tigers answered with a quick 7-0 zip to cut the deficit to 64-68 courtesy of a Jeric Teng triple with 2:39 remaining.

Rome Dela Rosa countered with two free throws while the Tigers committed costly turnovers in the closing stretch that hastened their downfall and set up Dela Cruz's free throws.

“Our boys stepped up their game especially on defense and I’m really happy for them. They really deserve the third place finish,” said SBC coach Boyet Fernandez.

“I’m happy with our campaign here in the Fil-oil. We learned what our strengths and weaknesses are, so hopefully we can improve on them for NCAA,” he added.

Baser Amer led the Red Lions with 15 points while Dela Rosa and Kyle Pascual chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively. For his part, Adeoagun finished with a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards along with three blocks in just 20 minutes of playing time.

Fernandez expressed delight in their preparation for the upcoming NCAA Season 89 basketball tournament.

“I’m happy with our preparation. We’ve been together five months now. Hindi na namin masyado babaguhin yung lineup namin,” Fernandez said, “I hope we can bring this winning momentum at the start of the NCAA,” he added.

Teng led UST with 27 markers while Aljon Mariano added 12 points.