Red Lions Maul Generals

San Beda drew inspiration from the return of Nigerian Ola Adeogun as it turned back a feisty Emilio Aguinaldo College side, 81-65, to wrest the solo lead in the 88th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.

Coming off a four-game suspension for misconduct late last year, the 6-8 Adeogun came off the bench and plucked with a team-high 14 rebounds, scored nine points and had four blocks in just 22 minutes to help propel the Lions to victory and the lead with a 4-1 (win-loss) record.

“Answered prayers, he’s truly a big blessing,” said San Beda coach Ronnie Magsanoc on his prized rookie center.

Adeogun actually got his clearance to play only a couple of hours before gametime, giving Magsanoc and the Lions some anxious moments going into the EAC match.

“Ola got his clearance just two hours before the game that’s why we were not sure this morning if he would be allowed to play,” said Magsanoc. “But he showed what kind of character he has by just coming in and ready to play.”

Adeogun was just as relieved as his coach.

“I was excited to play because I was so down not playing,” said Adeogun, a native of Lagos, Nigeria. “I’m just happy that I played and coach was supportive and told me to stay cool.”

Jan Jamon paced the Generals with 18 points, including 12 straight points bridging the third and fourth quarters that saw them cut a 20-point lead to just single-digit, 57-65, early in the final period.

It was, however, EAC’s Cameroonian 6-7 slot man Noube Happi who gave Magsanoc the biggest problem.

“Happi is so strong, I was tempted to send in Benjie,” said Magsanoc in jest, referring to his assistant a former PBA star like him, Benjie Paras.

Happi, however, suffered a bloodied forehead after he was hit by an inadvertent elbow with a little over a minute to go in the third period.

During that stretch, Rafael Sanchez came in for Happi but was tossed out for a disqualification foul he committed against Fil-Am Kyle Pascual.

The Generals fell to 1-4.

Earlier, four-peat feat-seeking San Beda routed EAC, 144-51, to seize the solo lead in the juniors division with a fifth straight triumph.

Former Energen Pilipinas standout Arvin Tolentino led seven other Cubs in double figures with 21 points he spiked with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Although the Brigadiers dropped to their fifth defeat against a win, Efraim Atanacio came through with a league-high 14 blocks.

In the only other NCAA juniors game, La Salle-Greenhills smashed Perpetual, 100-63, to level its record at 3-3. The Junior Altas dropped to 1-3.

source: Joey Villar, Philstar Sports