Janti Miller and Bryan Sajonia were all business as San Beda University crushed De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, 91-72, in Game 1 of their NCAA Season 101 semifinals series on Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The lethal pair combined for 55 points in the lopsided win, which now placed the Red Lions on the verge of a finals seat while the Blazers moved to the brink of a playoff exit.
Miller was just four points shy of tying his career-high, erupting for 29 points built on 3-of-6 from downtown and grabbing nine rebounds and one assist while Sajonia dropped five triples to finish with 26 markers, five boards, and three dimes.
Sajonia did this even as he shrugged off an inadvertent elbow hit from Justine Sanchez, causing him a bloody left eye as the Benilde forward was called for an unsportsmanlike foul early in the second period.
That further ignited Sajonia, as he went unconscious in the fourth by knocking down three straight three-pointers to bring the Red Lions to a comfortable 74-53 cushion.
He would still convert a floater before passing the spotlight to Miller, who took over the rest of the way. The Filipino-American guard completed a rare four-point play off a Josh Cajucom foul from rainbow country to give San Beda an 80-59 lead halfway through the payoff period.
He punctuated the one-sided affair with yet another long bomb as San Beda inched closer to avenging its Final Four loss last season to this same Benilde team.
"Sabi ko sa kanila we have to be able to get rebounds, we were outrebounded in the first quarter. Ang dami naming binigay na offensive rebounds, 'pag kalaban mo talaga ang CSB ang laki kasi," San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta said.
"'Yun lang, I think we were able to do 'yung rebounding job much better sa second half, that's why we have more opportunities to score."
(I told them we have to be able to get rebounds, we were outrebounded in the first quarter. We gave away too many offensive rebounds, that happense when you play CSB because of their size... I think we were able to the rebounding job much better in the second half, that's why we have more opportunities to score.)
Benilde leaned on Ian Torres and Shawn Umali in the game that saw them miss the services of Raffy Celis and get underwhelming numbers from usual suspects Allen Liwag and Tony Ynot.
Torres finished with 18 points while Umali posted 13 markers, seven rebounds, and two blocks as Liwag and Ynot were held to seven and four points each.
WATCH NCAA:
The scores:
San Beda 91 - Miller 29, Sajonia 26, Gonzales 11, Andrada 8, Calimag 5, Reyes 4, Etulle 2, Celzo 2, Lina 2, Puno 2, Jamora 0, Bonzalida 0.
Benilde 72 - Torres 18, Umali 13, Sanchez 11, Ancheta 8, Liwag 7, Ynot 4, Morales 4, Gaspay 3, Cometa 2, Gonzaga 2, Eusebio 0, Oli 0, Moore 0, Cajucom 0.
Quarters: 22-19, 48-37, 65-53, 91-72.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
