Red Lions Roar Past Golden Stags

Mar Villahermosa scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter as San Beda College upended its archrival San Sebastian College-Recoletos, 97-81 in the 2011 FilOil Flying V Pre-Season Premier Cup at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan last June 1.

The testy encounter saw both teams score on huge runs, with the Red Lions ultimately coming out on top after beginning the final quarter with a 10-2 blast that put them up 79-63. “That’s expected,” said Red Lions head coach Frankie Lim, referring to San Sebastian’s comeback attempts. “Hindi naman mahina ang Baste.”

Villahermosa was a scorching 9-of-11 from the field, including 5-of-6 from downtown. Dave Marcelo added 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, while Jake Pascual and Rome dela Rosa scored 10 each.

San Beda continued to hold out Sudan Daniel for fear of injury, while the Stags sat out Calvin Abueva and Ian Sangalang.

Despite playing without two of their best players, the reigning FilOil Flying V Pre-Season tournament champs were down just two, 24-22, after the first quarter. By the end of the second, though, San Beda had gone on a mighty 19-2 run to close out the half. With a 54-37 deficit staring at them, and limited scoring options, the Stags looked seemingly out of this one.

A 5-0 blast by the Red Lions grew the lead to 59-37 to start the third quarter, but San Sebastian refused to bow out, outscoring San Beda 24-15, behind shots by Jonathan Semira and Anthony del Rio, to make it 69-61 with ten minutes left to play.

The Stags couldn’t build off their successful third quarter though, as Semira was ejected for throwing the ball at the face of Jake Pascual at the 8:27 mark, leading to a tense moment as a jawing Pascual had to be pulled away towards the San Beda bench. With just del Rio and Ronald Pascual left to carry the Stags, the Lions ran rampant, with the fourth quarter lead ballooning to as much as 20, 97-77. “It’s [San Sebastian's physicality] no surprise, but we’re not going to back down. They want to play physical, we can play physical,” added Lim.

Pascual led the Stags with 23 markers, though he shot just 8-of-26 from the field. He also contributed five boards and six dimes. Del Rio added 21, while Semira fired 11 before his ejection.

The Stags finished the elimination round at 5-2, its only other blemish coming against the UST Growling Tigers in triple overtime, last April 16.

San Beda’s 4-2 record gives them a shot at muddying the standings of Group A. A win on June 4 versus the UST Growling Tigers could force a three-way tie with San Sebastian, and possibly Ateneo, if it loses to nemesis De La Salle. A loss would drop them to 4-3, where a fourway tie with UST, NU, and DLSU is also not inconceivable.

When asked how the Red Lions will approach the Growling Tigers, Lim said, “They go for a freewheeling style, so we have to play great man-to-man defense.”