Loss to Letran serves as wake-up call for San Beda

MANILA, Philippines -- San Beda isn't used to being second fiddle to anyone in the last nine seasons.

So when it stumbled to a giant-slaying Letran early in the 91st NCAA tournament, the reigning five-peat champion, nine straight finalist and winner of eight of the last nine championships, a lot of people were surprised.

Lions coach Jamike Jarin, however, said he has no problems with it.

"We knew it's going to be a rough season for us this year," said Jarin, who took over from Boyet Fernandez late last year.

After scoring more than a 100 points in their first two outings, San Beda got a rude awakening and lost to an over-achieving Letran side that cast doubts to its ambitious sixth-peat feat campaign.

Jarin though liked to think of it as a learning experience.

"Not to take away the win from Letran, which beat us fair and square, but I think the loss helped us a lot because we were made aware that there are still work to be done and we need to work harder," said Jarin.

And the Lions did use the setback to string together four straight triumphs including an 83-81 win over Perpetual Help on July 28 and an 88-69 demolition of Jose Rizal last Thursday that pushed them to a 6-1 (win-loss) record and just half a game behind the league-leading Knights (7-1).

And in the heart of it was pro-bound Arthur dela Cruz, who is having an MVP season with career-high averages of 21.86 points, 13 rebounds, 6.14 assists and 1.57 steals a game.

"He has stepped up big for us," said Jarin of dela Cruz, who is expected to go high in this year's PBA rookie draft.

Nigerian Ola Adeogun has also started to re-assert himself after a slow, injury-plagued start and has normed 15.67 points, 8.6 boards and a block a game and should improve as he gets back to his old form.

It's worth noting also that San Beda is missing team captain Baser Amer, who will be out for at least another four weeks after suffering a dislocated shoulder in a collision with Letran's Mark Cruz.

Thankfully, San Beda's other guards, Dan Sara, Ranbill Tongco and Ryusei Koga have been alternating in filling the void.

Amer's return should further strengthen a San Beda team that is slowly but surely regaining its confidence.