San Beda's Reign Continues, Grabs 16th NCAA Basketball Crown

San Beda has finally arrived in the land of NCAA basketball immortals.

Banking on a backup player with a deadly pair of shooting hands, the Red Lions outlasted the San Sebastian Stags Wednesday, 57-55, to capture a record-tying 16th collegiate crown at the Araneta Coliseum and nail their fifth title in six seasons.

San Beda now joins Letran as the team with the most number of championships and this latest triumph did not come on a silver platter even though the series did not go the full route.

The Stags took control of the first half, 32-27, behind the long-range outburst of Ronald Pascual and MVP winner Calvin Abueva but the Lions clawed their way back starring David Semerad, who scored 13 of his game-high 15 points in the second half.

Semerad, whose twin brother Anthony also plays for San Beda, finished with an impressive seven-of-12 from the field and his performance caught SSC by surprise.

“The surprise package today was David Semerad,” said head coach Frankie Lim.

Semerad’s eye-popping showing Wednesday came after a fruitless stint in Game One.

SSC was on the verge of pulling away late in the third canto when it erected a 48-40 lead but by the time the quarter ended, San Beda had trimmed the lead to just two points at 48-50.

After making SSC bleed in the third, Semerad was back to inflict damage in the fourth frame for San Beda as he scored mostly on jumpers although a barrelling move with 53.6 seconds to go proved to be the game’s most telling blow as it gave them a 57-53 lead.

A jumper by Jovit Dela Cruz put the Stags back on track with 38 ticks remaining and after San Beda failed to light up the scoreboard, Pascual tried to turn the tables around when his trey totally missed the target with a scant two seconds on the clock.

Lim, a member of the NCAA champion team of 1977 and 1978, said he always had a good feeling that San Beda would win this year after seeing the Lions rise to the occasion a few times, later citing that the conquest was a product of “team effort.”

San Beda capped its elimination round campaign with a 15-2 win-loss card but wound up with the highest billing in the Final Four after beating SSC in a battle for the No. 1 position.

The Lions needed just one game to enter the finals after topping the Jose Rizal Heavy Bombers.

Lim said that while he continues to relish his three other championships with the team as coach, this latest win is extra-sweet since it was achieved without the help of star center Sudan Daniel, who was injured during the runup to the start of the NCAA.

“I told them wala na si Su (Daniel) so they had to deliver,” said Lim.

Semerad heard him loud and clear.

The scores:

San Beda 57 — D. Semerad 15, Caram 10, Villahermosa 8, Amer 7, Dela Rosa 5, K. Pascual 4, A. Semerad 2, J. Pascual 2, Marcelo 2, Lanete 0

SSC 55 — Pascual 15, Sangalang 13, Abueva 12, Miranda 5, Antipuesto 4, Dela Cruz 4, Del Rio 2, Vitig 0, Maiquez 0

Quarters: 14-15, 27-32, 48-50, 57-55

source:  Nick Giongco, MB