Twice-to-beat Goes To San Beda, Dumps Letran

Garvo Lanete showed the way for defending champion San Beda College, which repulsed Letran, 84-68, Friday in the 87th National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament at the jampacked The Arena in San Juan.

Lanete topscored for 28 points, his highest in 12 games, but it was Fil-Czech cager Anthony Semerad’s heroics in the fourth quarter which carried the Red Lions to their 15th win in 17 games that gave San Beda the no. 2 spot and a twice-to-beat incentive.

The San Beda star joined forces with Semerad’s fraternal twin brother David in a 16-4 spurt, which handed the Lions a commanding 30-18 spread in the last five minutes of the first half.

Coming off the bench, the 20-year-old Anthony had 16 points, including 11 in the last canto as he helped the Lions keep the Knights at bay in the final canto.

Playing only his second game in the second round after missing 12 games because of a foot injury, Anthony sizzled with two triples, a short jumper and three free throws in the final four minutes as San Beda took a 77-61 cushion.

The Knights finished their 18-game assignment in third with a 14-4 card.

The Mendiola-based dribblers can assume the no. 1 position if they hurdle the San Sebastian Stags (16-1) in the last elimination-round game on Wednesday.

“My bigs were in foul trouble 70 percent of the time. So, I relied on my guys from the bench like David Semerad, Michole Sorela, Anthony Semerad and Marc Villahermosa. Those guys contributed a lot in this game. It was a team effort. Everybody played with all their hearts,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim.

The Knights drew 14 points from Kevin Alas, who was held to just four in the final period, while Jam Cortes had 13, and Mark Cruz fired all of his 11 points in the last quarter.

source: Manila Standard