San Beda Secures Finals Seat

San Beda drained four of its six charities in the last 54.9 seconds as the Red Lions edged gutsy University of Perpetual Help Altas, 56-52, yesterday to make a return trip to the Finals of the 88th NCAA basketball tournament at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Center Ola Adeogun completed his freethrows and Baser Amer made two of his four attempts from the line for the defending champion Red Lions, who advanced to the championship round for the seventh straight time.

“Coach [Ronnie Magsanoc] told us to play with heart...he said the win will go to the team who wants it most. He told me to play in defense and rebounds but when the scoring presented itself, I took advantage of it,” said Adeogun.

Adeogun sizzled with 23 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks, while Amer churned in nine markers, 12 boards, six assists and three steals against Perpetual, still fresh from a 73-68 win over Jose Rizal University in the playoff for the last semifinal slot.

"As expected, it was a close game.  Wala namang madaling laro this season, and I think our recent loss to San Sebastian gave us the needed boost to step up in this game," said San Beda coach Ronnie Magsanoc, referring to their 69-55 loss to the Stags at the end of the eliminations six days ago.

The Red Lions, who are enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage, sensed danger in the last four minutes of the game when Nosa Omorogbe fired back-to-back triples to give the Altas a 49-46 lead.

But Adeogun and Amer sprang into action and conspired for seven straight points to give San Beda the upperhand, 52-49, 2:37 left.

A three-pointer from Jett Vidal locked the game at 52-all before Adeogun and Amer kept the fire burning until the dying seconds.

Perpetual succumbed to pressure in the last 50 seconds when Vidal's three triple attempts and Earl Thompson's one attempt behind the arc just bounced off the rim.

In the end, Magsanoc still have nice words for the Altas, who beat them in the opening round, 88-87, in overtime.

"It was hard to stop the fire and intensity of Perpetual," said Magsanoc.  "I thought those two straight three-pointers from Nosa were game-changers, but in the end, our freethrows made the biggest difference."

Indeed, the Red Lions made 22 charities from 31 attempts compared to the Altas, who only managed 6-of-12.

Both squads shot poorly at halftime, with San Beda connecting only six of their 25 fieldgoal attempts for 24 percent, and Perpetual hitting 8-of-36 for 22 percent.

Vidal finished with 15 points and seven rebounds for Perpetual, but struggled with his outside shooting, hitting just 3-of-12 behind the arc.  Omorogbe also had 15 markers and five steals before fouling out in 2:37 of the game.

source: MB Sports