Down by one, 60-59, with 6.8 seconds to spare in the game, San Beda University looked like it was on its way to absorbing its first loss in the NCAA Season 97 as San Sebastian College-Recoletos kept battling.
But JB Bahio came up clutch for the Red Lions, sinking a game-winning putback off a miss from teammate Ralph Penuela to put the game away and cruise to their fourth win in a row.
For San Beda head coach Boyet Fernandez, that rebound was one for the books.
"It's one offensive rebound we'll remember because we're beaten on the boards by San Sebastian. We're happy we got that important one," said Fernandez in the post-game interview.
The Red Lions were outrebounded by the Stags in the match, 49-36, but got the one that mattered the most in this game.
"I'm happy that everybody has been stepping up. I didn't use just one guy, but everybody really stepped up their game and helped contribute to this win so sana tuloy-tuloy pa rin."
Fernandez, though, admitted that it was a lackluster game for his wards with San Sebastian always finding the response to their shots.
Still, the multi-titled mentor said he hopes this tight 61-60 victory serves as a character-building moment for his wards.
"I'll take this game as a win. A win is a win but I hope this will be a character building for our team," he said.
"I'm happy the way my players stepped up in the fourth quarter, they really executed our set plays. I'm happy that JB Bahio made that followup shot. We really did execute well in the fourth quarter, especially in the last few seconds of the game."
—JMB, GMA News
