Lions seal No. 1; Cards oust Chiefs

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda turned back Letran, 83-78, to clinch top seeding in the playoff for a record 10 straight years even as Mapua routed Arellano U, 93-75, to snare the last Final Four spot in the 91st NCAA basketball tournament at the MOA Arena in Pasay yesterday.

Nigerian behemoth Ola Adeogun powered his way to a team-best 21 points including 11 in the fourth quarter as the Lions fended off a furious Letran fourth quarter comeback fuelled by Mark Cruz and Kevin Racal.

“I’ll be lying if I say there’s no pressure because any time you come into a big program like San Beda, there will always be pressure and a lot of expectations,” said San Beda coach Jamike Jarin.

After Jomari Sollano’s three-point play tied the count at 78-all with a little over a minute to play, Adeogun scored on an inside stab off a feed by Ryusei Koga, then tipped in a missed free throw by Baser Amer as the Lions pulled away from the Knights.

The Cardinals, for their part, worked on a big second-quarter run to put the Chiefs away.

Josan Nimes unloaded a team-high 21 points including 11 in the second period when the Cardinals built momentum en route to the victory that sent the team to the Final Four for the first time in five years.

Mapua and Jose Rizal play at 4 p.m. on Friday to determine the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in the semis.

“It’s a good feeling knowing that we’ll finally get to experience playing in the Final Four,” said the PBA-bound Nimes.

Mapua is already assured of its best finish since Atoy Co took over rein in the team in 2012.

Nigerian neophyte Allwell Oraeme dominated the boards, hauling down 28 rebounds that went with 13 points, six assists and three blocks.

Oraeme, who also had a pair of 30-rebound efforts last month, stayed on track to possibly winning both the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards. Philippine Christian U’s Gabby Espinas and San Beda’s Sam Ekwe did the trick in 2004 and 2006.

CJ Isit, Darell Menina and Justin Serrano provided help in scattering 14, 14 and 10, respectively.

“What’s important is that we’re peaking at the right time and everyone is healthy,” said Nimes, slowed down by hamstring injury a few weeks back.

Jio Jalalon came through with a career-high 37 points he topped with seven boards, five assists and five steals for the Chiefs.

In juniors’ action, Ricci Rivero erupted for 40 points as La Salle-Greenhills smashed Lyceum of the Philippines U, 88-71, to clinch the last Final Four spot.

La Salle-Greenhills takes on No. 3 Arellano U at the start of the stepladder semis.