San Beda Five Destroy Baste, Force Play-off For No. 1

Defending champion San Beda College turned an expected close battle into a lopsided affair as it easily manhandled San Sebastian College, 91-70, to tie the Stags and earn a playoff for the no. 1 seed in the 87th National Collegiate Athletic Association Wednesday at The Arena in San Juan.

The Red Lions and the Stags finished tied at the top with identical 16-2 slates and will dispute the top seeding tomorrow to finalize the pairings in the Final Four.

Top Red Lion Garvo Lanete was once again his usual self, leading his squad with 17 points, 15 in the first half, but it was one of his teammates that placed the dagger over their foes.

Reserve forward Anthony Semerad caught fire from behind the arc in the third period as his three triples proved to be the nail in San Sebastian’s coffin. Semerad finished with 13 points, 10 in the third, with four triples overall.

"When they zoned us, si Anthony (Semerad) ‘yung tumira sa labas. He was a big factor. More than the technical aspect of it, I just asked the players to play with a lot of pride and play with a lot of heart for our supporters," said San Beda coach Frankie Lim.

"We haven’t beaten San Sebastian this year and we need to believe that we can beat them going to the Final Four. We’ll see what happens on Friday," he added.

The victor of the third clash between these powerhouses will face no. 4 Jose Rizal University, while the loser will end up at no. 2 to face No. 3 Letran.

Both squads will have twice-to-beat advantages against their opponents regardless of the result of their Friday tussle.

Through their suffocating interior defense, the Red Lions were able to establish their game early on to build a double-digit lead at the end of the first frame, 29-18. They led 45-35 at the break, but an excellent third period basically placed the Red Lions to safer shares.

Behind Semerad’s hot hands, San Beda outplayed San Sebastian, 23-12, in the third and even led by as much as 23 points, 68-45, with a minute left in the quarter, before taking a whopping 68-47 spread entering the fourth.

Meanwhile, an earlier advice had it that the tie was to be resolved through a quotient system most likely to avoid additional play date in the already long-dragging 87th season. The league apparently had a sudden change of heart. 

source: Jeric Lopez, Arman Carandang