San Beda Rips Perpetual Help

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.

That was about the time the Altas found their groove, firing a 10-2 run that cut the lead of the Red Lions down to 10, 39-29, with 6:12 left to play. An and-one play by Rome de la Rosa pushed San Beda’s lead back up to 13, 42-29. But, Perpetual Help was still going strong, nailing back-to-back triples to trim the deficit to just seven with 4:38 remaining. Charities by Kyle Pascual and a layup by Mar Villahermosa brought it back to double-digits again at 47-36 for a short moment before Jett Vidal got into to the mix, chipping in with a layup and a triple that sandwiched a trey by Jaycee Asuncion to get within a triple of tying San Beda, 47-44, with 1:56 left in the third.

Unwilling to lose for a second straight time, the Red Lions banged out a 10-0 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to arrive at 57-44, with de la Rosa playing the role of catalyst thanks to his two layups and an assist to Jake Pascual. The Altas still refused to go away, getting to within six on a 9-2 blast that ended with another long-bomb by Asuncion that pulled the Altas to within six, 59-53 with 4:43 remaining. But, the offense finally dried up, as the hosts scored just one more field goal from that point on, allowing the Red Lions pad their advantage all the way to the final score.

The two Pascuals of San Beda led the way, with Kyle coming off the bench to tally a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, plus four blocks. Jake Pascual added 13 and eight boards, while de la Rosa flashed his all-around game with 13 points on 50 percent shooting, six rebounds and five dimes.

Jaycee Asuncion led the Altas with a career-best 15 points, sparkling from outside with a 4-for-5 clip. The starting frontcourt of Justine Alano and Anthony Paulino combined for 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Chris Elopre posted seven points, six rebounds and seven assists.

The Red Lions leaned on their superior team play, doubling the Altas’ 11 assists. Despite their height disadvantage, Perpetual Help managed to edge San Beda slightly in the offensive rebounds category, 17-16. What kept the Altas in this game was their perimeter defense, holding the Red Lions to their worst percentage this season from beyond the arc, 2-of-16, or 13 percent. Their previous low came against the Altas as well, when they shot two for 14 in the season-opener.

“My guys are tired, dahil sunod-sunod ang mga laro,” admitted Lim. “But now we’re going to have a 10-day break. We should be well-rested.”

San Beda bounced back from its first round loss to the San Sebastian Stags, improving its record to 9-1. The Red Lions take a long break before playing the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals on Friday, September 2. Perpetual Help, for its part, absorbed its ninth loss in 10 outings, but will play again on August 26, against the Saint Benilde Blazers.

San Beda 69 – K. Pascual 15, J. Pascual 13, de la Rosa 13, Lanete 9, Marcelo 6, Koga 5, Villahermosa 2, Lim 2, Sorela 2, Amer 1, D. Semerad 1, Pontejos 0

Perpetual Help 55 – Asuncion 15, Alano 11, Paulino 9, Vidal 9, Elopre 7, Thompson 3, Parico 1, Arboleda 0, Sumera 0, Sison 0 , Tonggal 0

Quarter scoring: 15-6, 33-19, 49-44, 69-55