Game Friday (MOA Arena, Pasay)
2 p.m. – La Salle-Greenhills vs Arellano (jrs)
4 p.m. – Jose Rizal vs Mapua (srs)
MANILA, Philippines - After dealing with injuries most of the elimination round, San Beda coach Jamike Jarin is happy with the knowledge that his team will go into the Final Four of the 91st NCAA basketball tournament a complete team.
“I’m very happy I have 15 players ready to play,” said Jarin moments after he steered San Beda to the No. 1 seed for a record 10th straight season following an 82-78 victory over bitter rival Letran Tuesday at the MOA Arena in Pasay.
“For the entire elimination, I never had that luxury. Come into playoff and come into the Final Four, we have a 15-man lineup and I’m happy and satisfied,” he added.
Lions captain Baser Amer sat out for half of the season after dealing with hamstring and shoulder injuries while Nigerian Ola Adeogun started the season with injury issues as well and had to slice some minutes from his playing time to recover as the season progressed.
Dan Sara, the team’s starting point guard, also missed a couple of weeks due to hamstring issues.
Jarin found a way to allot minutes to his other players and still managed to keep San Beda’s tradition of making the playoff stage for 10 years in a row.
Now, the Lions have emerged the most dangerous team in the Final Four.
“It’s the reason I have consistently used all my players every game, to keep them fresh come the big matches,” said Jarin.
With its place in the Final Four already secured, Jarin would like to think of the present and how they will prepare against their next foe, which would be the loser of the Jose Rizal-Mapua playoff for the No. 3 seed on Friday at the MOA Arena.