Basketball
San Beda bludgeons Letran to bounce back from loss
InterAKTV/Justin Gener
After a loss at the hands of San Sebastian three days ago, defending champion San Beda bounced back by whipping Letran, 65-43, in NCAA Season 88 action Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
It was the tenth win in a row for the Red Lions over the Knights, which last won an NCAA game between the two teams on July 25, 2007.
Back-to-back champion San Beda poured out its wrath on Letran, which played without key players Raymund Almazan and Jonathan Belorio, who is out due to a one-game suspension.
From the opening tip, the Red Lions dictated the tempo as they limited the Knights to just 19 points at the end of two quarters.
San Beda is now in a three-way logjam for the top spot in the league with San Sebastian and Jose Rizal, with similar 7-2 win-loss slates.
“It was a good bounce back. They worked really hard to defend. It helped na maalat si Kevin (Alas). Trinabaho ng mga bata itong laro na ito,” said San Beda coach Ronnie Magsanoc.
Alas, the Knights’ top gun, was scoreless until hitting his first basket at the buzzer to end the third quarter.
Melo Lim led all scorers for the Red Lions with 12 while Ola Adeogun and Art Dela Cruz added ten apiece.
Jam Cortes was the only Knight to score in double figures with 12.
Almazan, Letran’s lanky center who has been missing in action for about a month, finally showed up but sat at ringside behind Letran’s bench.
The Scores:
San Beda (65) — Lim 12, Adeogun 10, Dela Cruz 10, Dela Rosa 8, Koga 7, Caram 5, J. Pascual 5, K. Pascual 5, Mendoza 3, Amer 0.
Letran (43) — Cortes 12, K. Alas 7, Lituania 7, K. Alas 6, Cruz 4, Gabawan 2, Luib 0, Cudal 0, Pantin 0.
Quarters: 14-10, 30-18, 49-32, 65-43.
