Lions zero in on 18th NCAA title

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda unleashed its full might in the fourth quarter as it turned a see-sawing, fiercely-fought game into a runaway 80-68 triumph over Letran to move a win away from a fourth straight championship in the 89th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the MOA Arena in Pasay City yesterday.

Nigerian Ola Adeogun and Baser Amer bucked a sloppy start by coming through in the second half as they scored all but two of their combined 27 points in that stretch to steer the Lions to the victory and a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three title series. 

John Ludovice, relegated to a bench role by Roldan Sara, made the most of his rare stint in a crucial game and poured in all his 11 points in the fourth, including five straight points he capped with a triple that sparked a telling San Beda run.

“Ola and Baser have the hearts of champions and they showed it in this game by coming up big in the fourth quarter despite struggling early in the game,” said San Beda coach Boyet Fernandez.

“Vice (Ludovice) also stepped up big for us and so the rest of the squad when our starters couldn’t get going,” he added.

The Lions will shoot for their 18th championship in Game Two Thursday with the beleaguered Knights, who have 16 titles, vowing to bounce back and send the series into a winner-take-all match.

San Beda is also gunning for its first ever four-peat feat after being denied by San Sebastian four years ago. 

Interestingly, the last team that won four straight titles was San Sebastian led by Rommel Adducul, Banjo Calpito, Brixter Encarnacion, Ulysses Tanigue and Jasper Ocampo from 1993 to 1997.

Letran coach Caloy Garcia said they simply lost their focus in the fourth.

“We just collapsed in the fourth quarter, that’s the story of the game,” said Garcia.

Mark Cruz led the Knights with 22 points while Raymond Almazan, the runaway MVP this season, and Kevin Racal had 16 and 12 points, respectively, but failed to regroup in the face of San Beda’s mighty finish.

After a tied first quarter and a two-point lead by San Beda at the half, the Knights took charge in the third and built a 53-47 lead heading to the fourth as Mark Cruz hit two free throws off a foul by Francis Abarcar at the buzzer.

But the Red Lions roared back and outscored the Knights, 33-15, in the fourth to win pulling away.

San Beda and Letran fought to a gruelling first half as they played through gnawing pressure and woeful outside shooting that saw them hit just 10 of 34 shots for a nightmarish 29 percent clip.

The only edge San Beda had in the first half was it made a triple in nine tries while Letran missed all its nine attempts from beyond the arc.

The Lions, who outrebounded the Knights, 29-22, also struggled from the line, missing seven of 12 as against four-of-four by the Knights.