SAN BEDA won convincingly and so did Letran in Thursday’s Final Four duels to arrange a championship showdown for the 89th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) seniors’ basketball crown at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The four-peat-seeking Red Lions used a strong second half to finish off the University of Perpetual Help Altas, 70-51. The Knights refused to be outdone and waltzed their way to an 85-58 crushing of the San Sebastian Golden Stags. San Beda, the top seed, and Letran, the No. 2-ranked team, had twice-to-beat advantages in the semifinals.
Game One of the best-of-three finals is on Monday at 2:30 p.m., also at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“We know that is a do-or-die game for them [Perpetual Help] and I congratulate Perpetual Help and Coach Aric [del Rosario] for a job well done. They really prepared for us in the first half, but my players went out in the second that’s why we’re back [in the finals],” San Beda Head Coach Boyet Fernandez said.
The Red Lions clinched an eighth straight finals appearance. They are shooting for their 18th title in the league.
The Altas looked headed to extending the semifinals series to a knockout match by taking a 25-21 advantage at the half.
Anthony Paulino buried a three-pointer to tie the count for the last time at 37-all with 16.5 seconds left in the third quarter, and Ola Adeogun pushed San Beda on top, 38-37, entering the final canto.
The Red Lions opened the fourth with a 15-2 exchange with Adeogun and Rome de la Rosa combining for 10 points for a 53-39 spread with 5:40 to go in the game.
Arthur de la Cruz and Adeogun scored 11 points each to lead San Beda. They also combined for 25 rebounds.
Justine Alano was the lone Altas in double digits with 12, as old reliables Earl Thompson, Harold Arboleda, Baloria and Nossa Omorogbe sputtered down the stretch.
Letran, on the other hand, banked on leading Most Valuable Player candidate and pro-bound Raymond Almazan’s near triple-double finish in crushing San Sebastian. Almazan tallied 19 points, 23 rebounds and nine blocks to pace the Knights, who are looking to avenge their finals loss last year to the Red Lions.
Mark Cruz had 19 markers on an eight-of-19 shooting from the field to go with his four rebounds and four assists for Letran
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