MANILA, Philippines – Ralph Salcedo came through with the game-winning steal and basket in the dying seconds as Arellano U eked out a shock 78-76 win over San Beda to zoom to the top in the 90th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City Saturday.
Tied at 76-all with 9.2 seconds to go, Salcedo tapped the ball away from San Beda rookie Ranbill Tongco's hands and then scored the game-sealing basket off a nice feed from Jiovani Jalalon to snatch the stunning win.
The Chiefs thus clinched their first ever Final Four appearance since joining the league five seasons ago while clinching a twice-to-beat advantage.
Arellano U also supplanted San Beda, the four-peat champion and winner of seven of the last eight, at the helm and will clinch the top seeding if the former beats an already-ran Lyceum on Oct. 8.
"This is a dream-come-true for us," said an ecstatic Arellano U coach Jerry Codinera.
The Lions fell to second place after absorbing their third straight defeat and fifth overall against 13 wins.
Dioncee Holts led the Chiefs with 19 points and 12 rebounds while Keith Agovida, Isiah Ciriacruz and John Pinto added 17, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
San Beda's painful defeat spoiled Nigerian Ola Adeogun's monster effort of 23 points and 19 rebounds.
The Scores:
Arellano (78) – Holts 19, Agovida 17, Ciriacruz 12, Pinto 10, Jalalon 8, Gumaru 4, Salcedo 2, Hernandez 2, Bangga 2, Palma 2, Nicholls 0, Caperal 0, Enriquez 0.
San Beda (76) – Adeogun 23, Amer 18, Dela Cruz 15, Sara 7, Tongco 4, A. Semerad 3, Mendoza 2, Pascual 2, Sorela 2, Koga 0, Mocon 0.
Quarterscores: 16-17, 39-32, 55-58, 78-76