San Beda Five Maul JRU In Filoil Preseason

It was an apt comeback for the reigning NCAA titlists, as they evened their record, after an opening day loss to National University last Saturday, 83-81. San Beda is now 1-1 in Group A play, while JRU is 0-1.

"It was an ugly game due to the fact we had so many turnovers," said new San Beda head coach Boyet Fernandez. "I'm just happy for the guys, they really stepped up their game, and siguro in the next few games ma-limit namin yung turnovers."

"It felt great but we still need more time to bond. All the injuries are keeping everybody from playing together," added swingman Rome Dela Rosa.

Dela Rosa led San Beda with 16 points and four rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Ola Adeogun added 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Ryusei Koga, Francis Abarcar and Kyle Pascual finished with seven markers apiece. Art Dela Cruz tallied six points but hauled down 14 boards.

The Red Lions were hitting from outside early, as they racked up a 6-0 lead after their first four possessions. The Heavy Bombers called timeout and settled down on the offensive end, led by Michael Mabulac, to trail 9-8.

San Beda went with a big line-up in the last three minutes by slotting Anthony Semerad and Rome Dela Rosa at the wings. Though Semerad hit a three immediately after checking in, JRU's pesky defense and former Red Lion Paolo Pontejos' lane penetration guided them to finish the quarter on a 9-2 run, seizing a 17-14 advantage after the first period.

The Heavy Bombers opened the second quarter with consecutive triples from Philip Paniamogan and Pontejos. But aggressive play down low by Ola Adeogun and Jaypee Mendoza allowed the Red Lions to tie things up at 23-all.

However JRU struggled mightily to score again, as the Red Lions' defense conceded only a single basket in the last eight minutes of the period. Meanwhile Francis Abarcar nailed a three with under five minutes to play, and the reserve guard teamed up with Adeogun to finish the quarter on an 8-2 run, taking a 31-25 lead into halftime.

The Red Lions threatened to pull away after the break, moving the ball around to open up a double-digit lead, 39-28, on an elbow jumper by Kyle Pascual. But Pontejos refused to buckle, as he spearheaded a 15-4 run by the Heavy Bombers.

San Beda's offense withered against staunch resistance and managed only two field goals, both by Dela Rosa, in the last six and a half minutes. But Ivan Ludovice saved a long miss by Ryusei Koga as the third quarter expired, giving the Red Lions a 45-43 edge heading into the final period.

Three-pointers by Koga and Dela Rosa gave San Beda further separation to start the fourth quarter, 53-45. However they couldn't completely shake off Mabulac, who traded baskets with the Red Lions to score their next eight.

The Heavy Bombers though had problems on the defensive end, as they couldn't contain Dela Rosa and Adeogun in the paint, as well as the penetration of Abarcar and former DLSU Green Archer Dan Sara. The Red Lions took a 61-53 lead on charities by Sara with three and a half minutes to play.

JRU played shaky defense the rest of the way, allowing San Beda to score four of their last six points from the line to ice the final score.

Fernandez revealed after the game that point guard Baser Amer was withheld from play due to a hip flexor strain he suffered last Monday.

"He was advised to rest for 7-10 days," Fernandez said. "We're not really forcing the guy to play so it won't get worse and he'll get better over the next few games." Amer will miss San Beda's match-up against the UP Fighting Maroons this Friday as well.

"We're struggling at the point guard position," said Adeogun, echoing his coach's sentiments.

The Nigerian center said he's had to kick the ball out against double-teams and thanked his teammates for hitting their outside shots, adding, "Right now we're not even playing at 60 percent [without Amer]."

San Beda made 25-of-57 from the field (44 percent) against JRU's 21-of-61 mark (34 percent). The Red Lions also outclassed the Heavy Bombers in rebounding (48-32, 17-8 offensive) but lost the turnover tally, 22-16, leading to a 15-12 margin in turnover points for JRU.

Paolo Pontejos led all scorers with 18 points, helped by a 7-of-10 mark from the free throw line. Marco Balagtas and Michael Mabulac added 12 points while tallying eight and seven rebounds, respectively.

The scores:

SBC 67: Dela Rosa 16, Adeogun 14, Koga 7, Abarcar 7, Pascual 7, Dela Cruz 6, Ludovice 3, A Semerad 3, Mendoza 2, Sara 2, D Semerad 0, Abatayo 0, Villaruz 0

JRU 55: Pontejos 18, Balagtas 12, Mabulac 12, Paniamogan 6, Lasquety 5, Dela Paz 2, Salaveria 0, Benavides 0, Diego 0, Munez 0, Gozum 0, Sanchez 0, Abanto 0

Quarter-scoring: 14-17, 31-25, 45-43, 67-55

source: GMA News