Men's Basketball

8-19 SBCA Red Lions def. SPC Hermits 81-53

8-23 SBCA Red Lions def. DLSL Chevrons 75-57

8-27 SBCA Red Lions def. CSJL Knights 78-69

Junior's Basketball

8-19 SBCA Red Cubs def. SPC Hermits 84-65

8-23 SBCA Red Cubs def. DLSL Chevrons 75-35

Five senior teams extended their winning streaks while De La Salle Zobel made headway in the midget and junior levels in the 42nd WNCAA tournament on Aug. 28,Sunday.

Centro Escolar University routed San Beda College Alabang, 90-56, and Emilio Aguinaldo College slipped past host Rizal Technological University, 61-58, to post similar 4-0 slates in senior basketball at the St. Scholastica gym.

Letran swept all its women’s division elimination matches, while San Beda College advanced to the ‘Final Four’ for the first time Saturday in the NCAA beach volleyball tournament at the La Salle Greenhills sand court.

San Beda claimed the last semifinals berth after Coline Malana and Janine Marciano downed Jose Rizal University’s Joanna Clemente and Marjanette Echano, 23-21, 21-11.

San Beda will face Letran in the knockout ‘Final Four’, while reigning titlist University of Perpetual Help System Dalta (8-1) and College of Saint Benilde (7-2) collide in the other semis pairing.

The San Beda Lady Spikers and the Lady Bombers are tied at 5-4 card, but the Mendiola-based spikers took the No. 4 spot by virtue of a higher FIVB quotient.

Serving as a warm-up to their ‘Final Four’ duel, April Ann Sartin and Norie Diaz of the Lady Altas defeated the Lady Blazers duo of Rossan Fajardo and Jannine Navarro, 21-13, 21-19.

Defending champion San Beda, St. Benilde, UPHSD and Letran shares the top spot with 2-0 win-loss record at the start of NCAA Season 87 Table Tennis competition last weekend.

Lady Paddlers is also on its winning form together with CSB, EAC and AU all tied at #2 with 1-0 win-loss record.

The top four teams of the single-round robin elimination will advance to the next round where they would play each other once with the top two advancing to the finals. A team could win the title outright if it could top both the first and second rounds.

RT @joey55villar: NCAA Table Tennis: Reigning titlist San Beda, Perpetual, Letran and Benilde are leading the way with two wins each.

Pagkakataon naman ng mga mahilig sa raketa na pumagitna sa eksena sa pagsiklab ng table tennis competitions ng NCAA 87th Season.

Sa Sabado magsisimula ang paluan sa Mapua Gym sa Intramuros.

Sisikapin naman ng back-to-back at reigning NCAA Table Tennis champion na San Beda Red Paddlers na depensahan ang korona para maitala ang hangaring maka 3-peat ngayong taon.

Reigning beach volleyball champion University of Perpetual Help System Dalta and College of St. Benilde scored crucial wins over the weekend to advance to the semifinals in the women's division of the 87th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) beach volleyball tournament at the La Salle Greenhills sandcourts in San Juan.

Lady Altas' April Ann Sartin and Norie Diaz turned back the pair of Joanna Clemente and Marjanette Echano of Jose Rizal, 21-18, 21-13 to improve its mark at 7-1.

The Lady Blazers, meanwhile, posted the same record, as Jannine Navarro and Rossan Fajardo defeated the tandem of Mary Jane Ticar and Jeanilyn Lunar of Arellano U, 21-15, 21-16, in the spikefest also supported by Speedo and LGR.

With the win, the Lady Altas and the Lady Blazers advanced to the semis and joined early qualifier Letran.

The Lady Knights' tandem of Gena Andaya and Manel Carolino prevailed earlier outlasted Emilio Aguinaldo College’s Sharmaine Belleza and Carmille Lorenzo, 21-19, 21-17, to stay unbeaten in eight matches.

In other results, Bea Uy and Karen Berbano of San Sebastian College downed Tin Cassanova and Rosalaida Lualhati of Lyceum, 21-17, 21-15, to improve at 3-5.

Centro Escolar University and Emilio Aguinaldo College disposed of their respective rivals over the weekend and kept their unblemished records in senior basketball in the 42nd WNCAA.

EAC slipped past San Beda Alabang, 71-67, while Rubelyn Mendoza fired 20 points to lead CEU to an 81-41 rout of University of Asia and the Pacific. Both teams rose to 3-0.

Geneva Quitalan and Marjorie Borres fired 24 and 23 points, respectively, for EAC.

In seniors volleyball held at the RTU gym, host Rizal Technological U and SBCA also improved to 3-0.

SBCA survived UA&P in four sets, 25-19 17-25, 25-21, 25-19, and RTU demolished St. Scholastica, 25-17, 25-14, 25-22.

Host school UPHSD gave defending champion San Beda College a big scare in the second half, destroying big leads and getting to within single digits twice. Ultimately though, the scares were just that, scares, and the Red Lions were able to hold on for the win, 69-55 at the start of the second round of the 87th season of the NCAA last August 22 at the Arena in San Juan.

“Sloppy kami sa third quarter, [when] we gave up 25 points,” said San Beda head coach Frankie Lim. “I thought we would coast after the first half but they had a good run in the third.”

A booming triple by fifth-year hotshot Garvo Lanete helped build a 17-point lead, 33-16, with 40 seconds left to play in the first half, but Anthony Paulino successfully completed an and-one play off a Ryusei Koga foul to make it 33-19 entering halftime. Out of the break, back-to-back jumpshots by Michole Sorela and Lanete gave San Beda its biggest advantage of the game at 18 points, 37-19.

A glance at the current standings in both the UAAP and NCAA Men’s basketball tournament standings will show that the top teams, Ateneo and San Sebastian, respectively, are at 9 wins and 0 losses. At second place are Adamson (7-3) and San Beda (8-1)*, respectively, and coming in at third for each league are FEU (6-4) and Letran (7-2). At first sight, the records may show that there are two, maybe three teams fighting for the top spot in either league. The records may quickly change as the playdates continue. But, a deeper analysis, which actually means just a casual look back at what has transpired so far in UAAP Season 74 and NCAA Season 87, reveals that what may be true in the NCAA is farthest from the truth in the UAAP.

Last Friday, 19 August 2011, San Beda and San Sebastian of the NCAA had identical 8-0 records. They met at the San Juan Arena to renew a feud that would, conveniently, place the winner at the top of the standings with an unblemished record. What took place was, in our observation, one of the best college basketball games in recent memory. From the get-go, these teams went at each other with everything they had, and even down to the last seconds of the ballgame, the outcome was not certain. There were more than 20 lead-changes and several deadlocks. The alleged star players shined brightest, but the role players, the bench players, also affected the outcome. The last five minutes of the game had some of the greatest offensive and defensive exchanges this season, if not of all time. The Red Lions of veteran champion player and coach Frankie Lim are great, but without their man in the middle from last season, the other teams are slightly more confident to attack them. The Stags, under neophyte coach Topex Robinson, are relentless. Their first round matchup was a basketball fan’s dream. We are sure even San Beda fans, though smarting a bit from the loss, could only nod their heads in approval of the classic game they just witnessed.

The Red Lions are hoping to rebound from that stinging defeat last Friday when they play a skidding University of Perpetual Help side at 11:45 a.m.

“I told the team that we lost to San Sebastian, but it’s not the end of the world. May second round pa,” said SBC coach Frankie Lim, whose team’s 26-game unbeaten streak saw its end.

San Beda is favored over Perpetual, having beaten the Altas (1-8) by 30 points in the first round, 82-52.

In the junior's division, the undefeated Red Cubs will battle 8th placer Alatalets at 10 AM.

Wilfredo Sunglao Jr., a marketing management student at San Beda College, bucked a serious case of cramps to finish with six gold medals and two silvers for the Sea Lions at the close of the 87th National Collegiate Athletic Association swimming competitions at the Rizal memorial pool in Vito Cruz, Manila.

The 17-year-old Sunglao had to endure stiffness in both his arms, but still had enough resolve to clinch the gold in the men’s 200-meter freestyle and the silver in the 50-meter freestyle.

Together with the five golds he won on Friday, Sunglao brought his total haul to six golds as the Sea Lions dominated the men’s side for the 10th consecutive season.

La Salle-Greenhills, coached by former varsity star Evan Grabador and led by Rafael Sta. Maria, who won six golds and a silver, ruled the junior division for the eighth consecutive season with 1211 points, with San Sebastian College and San Beda College finishing second and third, respectively, with 588 and 493 points.

Samuel Gregorio Ongjoco, meanwhile, led San Sebastian’s drive with six golds, all in record-breaking fashion.

San Beda also dominated the women’s side with eight golds, seven silvers and four bronzes for an aggregate 674.25 points, while CSB and Arellano finished second and third with 330.5 and 216.5.

Check out Senior's Round 1 Team/Player's scores and statistics. Click here.

Credits to NCAA.org.ph

San Beda Sea Lions just proved that they are the best swimmers by drowning their opponents for 10 straight seasons and being hailed as the champion at the recently concluded NCAA Season 87 Swimming Competition. The Sea Lions scored 1,308.50 points over CSB and EAC's 522 points and 374 points respectively.

Meanwhile, our Female Sea Lions showed their dominance in the water by also bringing the NCAA Swimming Women's Championship crown to Mendiola. The Female Sea Lions scored 674 points making them the number women's swimmer in the league.

Our Junior Sea Lions placed third in the Junior's division.

Wilfredo Sunglao Jr. of San Beda College scored 154 points and was named this year's MVP.

San Sebastian fuelled its own streak with a game-long brilliance and in the process ended San Beda’s long 24-win run, 70-68, in a seesawing contest before a roaring crowd in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Calvin Abueva and Ronald Pascual, the leaders in the MVP race, combined for 13 of the team’s 17 fourth quarter points as they practically carried the Stags to the thrilling victory in a match that marked the end of the first round elims but which looked more of a championship game.

The two teams battled through four deadlocks and nine lead changes in a highly physical contest with no team able to lead by more than seven points (SSC, 34-27) and it boiled down to an endgame where San Beda blew its chance with an off-the-mark triple by Dave Marcelo.

“We played a very good team but we were humbled by this experience,” said San Sebastian coach Topex Robinson, hoping to become the first coach to win a championship in his rookie season since San Beda’s Frankie Lim did the trick four years ago.

It was San Sebastian’s ninth straight win while dealing San Beda its first loss in nine games.

As of August 19, our San Beda Sea Lions and Female Sea Lions topped the standings in the latest NCAA Swimming competition. On the other hand our Junior Sea Lions placed number 3 in the junior's division.

TOP 4 (after Day 2, Aug 19)

La Salle Greenhills: 847 points

San Sebastian College - Recoletos: 391.5 points

Arellano University: 109 points

College of St. Benilde: 277 points

Arellano University: 160.75 points

San Sebastian College - Recoletos: 147 points

College of St. Benilde: 386.5 points

EAC Generals: 239 points

Mapua: 184.5 points

Here's San Beda Round 2 schedule for NCAA Season 87 Basketball. Aside from Monday, all of San Beda's game will be televised on Studio 23.

A stronger, more ferocious Red Lion is coming your way this second round. 

Only one team will remain unscathed when defending champion San Beda College and San Sebastian clash for the solo lead at the close of the 87th NCAA basketball tournament first round Friday at The Arena in San Juan.

The Red Lions and the Stags, toting similar 8-0 slates, meet for the first time since last year’s finals at 4 p.m. with the victor earning a sweep of the first round before an expected banner crowd at the 5,000-seat venue.

Both San Beda and San Sebastian are coming off sluggish outings on Aug. 10.

The Red Lions, behind Garvo Lanete’s 23 points, fended off JRU’s fierce challenge for a 77-69 victory while the Stags drew a big outing from Ian Sangalang to defeat Mapua, 71-66.

Over the past two years, the San Beda-San Sebastian collision has been fierce and physical and San Beda coach Frankie Lim is bracing for it.

“It’s not going to be easy,” San Beda coach Frankie Lim said. “It’s going to be tough and the last time we played them, Su played but ngayon wala siya and my bigs have to hold their on and that will be the challenge.”

Host San Beda College Alabang opens its campaign against San Pablo College as the 13th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) kicks off hostilities Friday with basketball and volleyball following colorful opening ceremonies at 10 a.m. at the SBCA gym in Alabang, Muntinlupa City.

The SCBA Alabang Red Lions of coach Aldrin Morante tackle the San Pablo cagers at 12 noon ushering in a quadruple bill of basketball games capped by the match pitting reigning five-time NCAA junior champions SBCA Alabang Red Cubs against San Pablo at 4:30 p.m.

Noted mentor Joe Lipa is the 13th NCAA South’s basketball tournament commissioner.

Volleyball also shares the spotlight on opening day of the premier collegiate league south of Metro Manila with Colegio San de Letran-Calamba tackling Don Bosco Technical Colleges-Mandaluyong in the men’s division starting the four-match schedule also at 12 o’clock.

Muntinlupa Mayor Aldrin San Pedro, Samahang Basketbolista ng Pilipinas executive director Sonny Barrios and deputy Bernie Atienza have been invited as the guests of honor to grace the inaugural rites of the 13th NCAA South preceding the games and which has for its theme “Nation Building Through Sports.”

Smart San Beda FC slipped past Stallions FC-Barotac Nuevo, 2-1, and into the finals of the PFF-Smart Club Championships at the rain-soaked and muddy University of Makati football field Monday night.

On a soggy pitch that made it doubly hard for both sides to score, San Beda banked on enterprising first-half goals by Vaugh Melendres and Eliezer Fabroada in the 16th and 36th minutes, respectively, to survive the Stallions’ strong comeback in the second half.

Former national standout Jovanie Simpron scored the Ilonggos’ lone marker in the 62nd as the second period became an engaging goalkeeping duel between Stallions’ Wilson Muñoz and San Beda’s Ref Cuaresma, who both made several acrobatic saves that wowed a gallery of 2,000 that stayed on to watch despite heavy downpour that preceded the game.

But the victory proved costly for the Rizal booters after Phil and James Younghusband got booked for yellow cards each and will be forced to watch the first game of the two-match championship series starting Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium from the sidelines.

San Sebastian blanked San Beda College, and University of Perpetual Help on similar 4-0 scores in the National Collegiate Athletic Association chess tournament held over the weekend at the SM City in Sta. Mesa in Manila.

Meanwhile, Mapua and San Beda College settled for a 2-all draw to end up tied for fourth place with 18.5 points.

In the juniors side, the SSC Staglets shut out San Beda Junior Woodpushers, 4-0, and topped Uiversity of Perpetual Help, 3.5-0.5, to stay in front with 26.5 points.

Action in the second round eliminations begins tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.

Four schools posted their second straight wins and grabbed a share of the 42nd WNCAA senior basketball and volleyball lead over the weekend.

In the junior division, San Beda College Alabang and La Salle College Antipolo debuted with victories in basketball, volleyball and futsal.

CEU, behind the game-high 22 markers of Rubelyn Mendoza, overwhelmed Miriam College, 88-39, while Emilio Aguinaldo College leaned on the combined 30-point output of Geneva Quitalan and Rachel Collado to turn back St. Scholastica's College, 57-33, at the St. Scho gym on Sunday, Aug. 14.

In senior's volleyball at the RTU gym also last Sunday, RTU disposed of EAC, 25-8, 25-14, 25-9, while the Alabang Lady Spikers survived CEU, 22-25, 25-19, 14-25, 26-24, 15-11.

SBC-A also opened its junior futsal campaign at the EAC gym with aplomb, blanking St. Paul College Pasig, 4-0, while LSCA thwarted Angelicum College, 4-1. Philippine Women's University, the 40th season champion, also prevailed over CEU, 8-0.

The Alabang Junior Spikers kicked off its Group B campaign in junior volleyball with a 25-11, 25-19, 25-14 win over LSCA. On the other hand, LSCA's junior cagers posted a 51-44 victory over St. Stephen's High School.

Here's the San Beda College Swimming Team Line-up. Let us support our swim-team in the upcoming NCAA Swimming Tournament. 

Also, San Beda Sea Lions will try to make their 10th straight in the swimming event this Season 87. "Because the best swimmers came from the Lion's Den!" Animo San Beda!

ALCOS, Andrei Don I.

BAÑAGALE, Neale Paulo M.

CASTAÑAREZ, Jorev Kenz Z.

DIAZ, Michael David D.

ESCOBAR, Jericho I.

FRANCISCO, Lorenz Joshua V.

JUGAR, Ruentone V.

MANALO, Renz Carlo G.

MANZO, Andrei Lorenzo G.

NOORA, John Paulo D.

PUA, Khale Whimpee S.

SANONE, Joseph Lance P.

SIMORA, John Orlan P.

SUBIBI, Christian Jude S.

SUNGLAO, Wilfred B. Jr.

VINLUAN, Joselito M. Jr.

In NCAA Beach Volleyball, Bea Uy and Karen Berbano of San Sebastian College waylaid Patricia Aquino and Kay Bacit of Mapua, 21-17, 21-13, while Coline Malana and Janine Marciano of San Beda College topped the Arellano University pair of Mary Jane Diane Ticar and Jeanilyn Lunar, 21-14, 20-22, 15-8.

The Lady Bombers fell to fourth place at 2-1, while the Lady Generals, the Lady Stags, the Red Lioness and the Lady Chiefs have 1-2 records, while the Lady Pirates and the Lady Cardinals remained winless in three starts.

Here's the result of our 6th Poll Question: Do you think it is time to "expand" San Beda's sports program? (i.e. include Judo, Badminton, Fencing and Women's Basketball)

NCAA will conclude its 1st round of basketball action with the much awaited duel this Season 87- San Sebastian vs. San Beda.

Both teams share an 8-0 win-loss record but in the end, only one will remain undefeated.

The Red Lions will rely on their big men - Jake Pascual, Kyle Pascual and Dave Marcelo - in terms of defense while King Red Lion Garvo Lanete and Rome Dela Rosa are expected to lead the undefeated champions with regards to scoring.

Last season, the Red Lions won all 4 games versus the Stags.

The National Collegiate Association (NCAA) South will be opening its 13th season this August 19, 2011 at San Beda College Alabang in Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila.

This year, the NCAA-South, an offshoot of the NCAA-Manila, has the theme “Nation building through Sports”. San Beda College Alabang (SBCA), a leading Benedictine educational institution in South Metro Manila, will be hosting the competitions and events. Dom Clement Ma. H. Roque, OSB, SBCA’s Rector-President, heads the steering committee for the event. The NCAA-South brings together ten of the most prominent schools south of Metro Manila for a year of competition in various sports such as basketball, volleyball, chess, football, badminton, table tennis, taekwondo, and swimming.

The league has drawn 10 schools for its 13th season—San Beda College Alabang, First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities (FAITH)-Tanauan, Batangas, Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Calamba, De La Salle Lipa, Lyceum of the Philippines University-Batangas, Philippine Christian University- Dasmariñas, San Pablo Colleges-San Pablo, University of Perpetual Help System-Laguna, Don Bosco Technical College-Mandaluyong, and University of Batangas (UB).

Muntinlupa City Mayor Aldrin San Pedro is one of the featured guests in the NCAA South Opening.

Defending champion San Beda Red Lions stretched its unbeaten run to eight, surviving tough challenge from its opponent in the NCAA Season 87 men’s basketball today at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Red Lions used a big fourth quarter surge to detonate the JRU Heavy Bombers, 77-69.

The Mendiola-based dribblers went to veteran Garvo Lanete to bail them out in the fourth period when the Bombers threatened to steal the game away.

After Nate Matute and John Vilarias gave JRU a 62-60 lead, Lanete starred in a 10-3 San Beda run. Lanete’s fifth triple gave the Lions a five-point breather with 4:15 left in the game.

San Beda’s Amer Baser and Anjo Caram’s charity splits padded the lead to seven, 74-67, with 1:43 left as JRU settled for outside shots, which never found their mark. The Bombers succumbed to their third straight loss to drop top 2-6 in the standings.

James Younghusband scored a hat-trick in powering Smart-San Beda FC past Bao Breakers, 6-0, as the group eliminations of the PFF-Smart Club Championships got under way last Tuesday.

James opened his blitz with a spendid left corner kick in the 34th minute, then added two more in the 49th and 52nd minutes in anchoring the charges of former national coach Aris Caslib to their first Group A victory in front of a sizeable weekday crowd at the Don Gregorio Pelaez Memorial Sports Complex here.

Vaugn Melendres headed in the icebreaker in the 24th minute for San Beda while Eliezer Fabroada (41st) and Phil Younghusband (73rd) were the team’s other scorers.

Despite the lopsided match, Caslib was dissatisfied with the form of his players, saying: “We still lack cohesion because of the long layoff and I just hope we get better as the tournament goes along.”

League leader San Beda College Red Lions stake their unbeaten run today when they take on dangerous opponent in the resumption of the 87th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

The Red Lions, defending the title they won last year over the Stags, clash with the Heavy Bombers of Jose Rizal University favored to stretch their winning streak to eight.

Action starts at 10 a.m. followed by the clash between the Red Cubs and Light Bombers at 11:45.

The Red Lions are gearing up for the much-awaited first-round showdown with the Stags on Aug. 19.

"We call them the big teams," said San Beda coach Frankie Lim, referring to Mapua, JRU and San Sebastian. "We just have to prepare very well. We’re going to rely on our scouting reports and play our usual game."

San Beda College-Alabang Red Lioness grab their 1st win over sister school St. Scholastica's College Scions in the opening day of the 42nd WNCAA held at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The Alabang Red Lioness beats Scions in women's basketball 44-38. The Alabang Lady Spikers also defeated SSC Spikers in volleyball, 25-23, 25-20, 25-8.

WNCAA Season 42 will be shown over AKTV (IBC 13 and Sky Cable channel 15) on every Tuesday at 9 p.m.

As early as the Fil-Oil Flying V Invitational tournament during the summer, it was noticeable that Sudan Daniel always appeared in street clothes sitting on the Lions’ bench. San Beda fans were gripping the arms of their seats for any update as to why their defensive anchor is not playing the tune-up games. It turned out that he has an injury that is devastating to basketball player other than a micro fracture and hairline fracture: a torn ACL.

A season-ending injury, that’s what it is. No Su for Season 87, and if I remember the NCAA rules right, sitting out a year of eligibility due to injury, there’s no certainty whether he will be allowed to suit up again for his final year or just let Ola Adeogun take the reins. It’s not like the US NCAA where you can redshirt one playing year in case of injury and still be eligible to play the next season.

Sudan’s injury caused a mighty uproar of glee not from the San Beda faithful, but rather, from online haters, actual haters, foreign student haters, and basketball “experts.” They said the Red Lions rely very much on Daniel, on offense and on defense. That if this import of San Beda is out of the equation, the Red Lions are very beatable, that they can’t win a championship without him. Guess they are eating their words now.

Here's the result of our 5th poll question:

9th Ang Liga season football game on August 6 at the SBC football field:

10:00AM - San Beda Red Booters vs FEU

Host Rizal Techonological University is looking at another winning season as it hosts the 42nd season of the Women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (WNCAA) set to fire off on Saturday, Aug. 6, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The RTU Blue Thunder will open its senior basketball campaign against the Centro Escolar University Scorpions at 12:30 p.m. It will be followed by the Poveda-St. Paul College Pasig midget clash at 2 p.m. and the St. Scholastica's College-San Beda College Alabang seniors tiff at 3:30 p.m.

RTU placed third in the previous season behind Lyceum and College of St. Benilde, which both took a leave of absence this season due to failure to field complete volleyball teams. La Consolacion College Manila is the third team on leave.

AKTV (Channel 13) will air the entire opening ceremonies while highlights and results will also be showed on a weekly basis. The cheerleading competition next year will also be aired, according to AKTV Sports' Vito Lazatin.

San Beda struggled with Mapua’s frontliners but recovered in time then turned to Dave Marcelo down the stretch to hack out a 74-68 win and grab the solo lead in the NCAA Season 87 men’s basketball tournament at the Arena yesterday.

“It was not easy for us, it was a hard win,” said coach Frankie Lim of SBC’s win No. 7. “We were beaten badly in rebounds and yet we won.”

The Cardinals used its height advantage to the fullest, fielding three frontliners most of the way to beat the Lions off the boards, 54-32. But the defending champions drew a big game from Marcelo who held his ground against Yousef Taha, Mark Sarangay and Michael Parala.

Marcelo also responded on the offensive end just when the Cardinals were threatening to steal the game, knocking down a basket on an “improvised play” to settle it, 72-68, with 27.2 second left.

“It’s about time he put up a big game,” Lim said of Marcelo (13 points and 12 rebounds). “I mean he battled three big men sometimes, Sarangay, Taha and Pascual or Parala, and Dave was my lone big. But he battled, we got to give it to him.”

Throwing the Lions off with their three-big men formation, the Cardinals enjoyed a 40-32 lead in the second period. But the Lions made some adjustments in the second half to seize control, 61-47.

“We had a huge third quarter, we limited them to seven points there and that was very big for us,” Lim said.

It will be a wide open race for the senior basketball and volleyball titles as 16 schools begin their campaign today in the 42nd WNCAA season at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Host Rizal Technological U, last season’s overall senior champion, kicks off its bid against Centro Escolar at 12:30 p.m.

Poveda and St. Paul Pasig’s midget teams collide at 2 p.m. while St. Scholastica and San Beda Alabang meet in another senior tussle at 3:30 p.m.

Perennial champion Lyceum, College of St. Benilde and La Consolacion Manila are skipping the 42nd season, citing failure to complete their basketball and volleyball teams.

“Despite the absence of three schools, followers of the WNCAA can still expect exciting matches from the 16 active schools,” said WNCAA president Vivian Manila of St. Scholastica.

San Beda College plays Mapua Institute of Technology today, hoping to keep its hot streak going in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan City.

The Red Lions meet the Cardinals in the main seniors match at 4 p.m. in a battle between two teams that clashed for the title during the 1991 season.

The Red Lions, who were denied of title by the Cardinals during that classic 1991 series, are currently sharing the lead with San Sebastian College. Both teams are unbeaten in six outings.

San Beda is expected to use this game with the Cardinals as a sort of preparation before they play the Stags at the close of the elimination round on Aug. 19 in a game which will determine who’s the boss in this 87th season.

#1. San Beda Red Lions (Last week's #3). After a nice tune-up game against the EAC Generals, the San Beda Red Lions had an easy time handling the Letran Knights, despite some rallies that cut a 19 point lead down to 8 in the third quarter, and then later down to 12 in the fourth. It's not news to say that San Beda's greatest strength is their depth, but never was it more clear against Letran, where they managed to foul out Jonathan Belorio and Jam Cortes of Letran, while still having four big guys to fill up the front court. They'll be playing a Mapua team this week that sort of has the same kind of depth, but not the same drive and poise, which is my polite way of saying San Beda is likely going to crush them as well.

Control the boards and you control Letran.

And that’s exactly what defending champion San Beda College did as the Red Lions roared past the Knights 77-62 yesterday for their sixth straight win and the solo lead in the 87th NCAA Seniors basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

Ranged against the league’s top rebounding squad, the Red Lions emerged with a 27-19 edge on the defensive end and exploited it to hilt, turning it into another lopsided 14-2 margin on fastbreak points.

With the triumph, the Red Lions stretched their winning run to 24 while dealing the Knights their third defeat in seven outings. The Red Lions’ last defeat was to San Sebastian in their 2009 finals clash.

It also marked San Beda’s 11th consecutive victory over Letran since Frankie Lim took over the coaching reins in 2007.

"We just played our usual game and caught Letran on a bad day," said Lim. "And take note that we outrebounded the league’s top rebounding team."

Lim also cited his three big locals–Jake Pascual, Kyle Pascual and David Marcelo–who combined for 21 rebounds, saying this "shows we can survive without foreign players like Sam Ekwe and Sudan Daniel."

San Beda shoots for the solo lead while Letran seeks to close in on the pacesetters as they renew their rivalry today in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

“We’re expecting no less than a battle, a war,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim, who has lost only once in 10 games against Letran counterpart Louie Alas since taking over the coaching job from Koy Banal in 2007.

The unbeaten Lions share the lead with the San Sebastian Stags with five victories and are slightly fancied over the 4-1 Knights in the 4 p.m. encounter.

San Beda is also looking to extend its win streak to 24, including a historic 18-game sweep of last season’s crown while eyeing an 11th straight victory over Letran stretching five seasons.

The Lions’ last lost to the Knights on July 25, 2007 when former Smart Gilas Pilipinas standout Rey Guevarra dunked over Nigerian Sam Ekwe in a stunning 70-69 decision before they strung up 10 wins in row.

The Letran-San Beda showdown is also a duel of the league’s most titled teams with the Muralla-based squad owning 16 titles and the Mendiola-based team boasting of 15 championships.

Defending champion San Beda and Letran renew their rivalry this Monday with the Red Lions shooting for their sixth straight victory in the 87th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

The unbeaten Red Lions and the Knights meet at 4 p.m. in a game expected to be a rugged one.

It’s clear that two teams hated each other so much that there’s always a heated altercation each time they clashed.

Against the Knights, who are sporting a 4-1 record for their best start in three years, coach Frankie Lim sees a tough match.

"It's going to be tough," said Lim. "Galing din sa panalo ang Letran and they got some huge confidence right now. We just have to put up a more defensive effort and conquer their full court pressure."

Letran blasted St Benilde, 112-91, on Wednesday but that effort failed to satisfy coach Louie Alas.

"Yardstick pa din ng liga is San Beda," said Alas. "We can't play the same defense we played the last time out against San Beda. It will be a big challenge for our players, especially against their big men."

They also love watching women's volleyball, aren't they? ☺