Inspired by late JV Gallego, San Beda shoots lights-out in FilOil semis stunner vs. UP

Playing with heavy hearts just a day after the passing of JV Gallego, San Beda University unleashed a shooting masterclass in his honor, overwhelming the University of the Philippines to book a spot in the FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup finals on Sunday.

The Red Lions channeled their inner Gallego and torched the three-time defending champions with 16 triples on the way to a stunning 93-72 victory that set them up for a first-ever all-NCAA championship showdown with Jose Rizal University.

Gallego passed away on Saturday after a vehicular accident along NLEX.

"The guys played inspired basketball. They played for something greater than themselves, greater than our team. We really did play for JV today," San Beda assistant coach Andre Santos said in the post-game interview.

"Coach Yuri's story about JV is that JV, in the basketball court, is one of the best shotmakers you'll ever see and today we won the game because, simple, we made shots. 16 out of 36 from threes, I think that's some JV Gallego-inspired shooting."

Gallego was widely regarded as a deadly outside shooter throughout his basketball career, making his mark at Chiang Kai Shek College in high school, with the Gilas Pilipinas Youth national team, and during the first two years of his collegiate career at National University.

Gallego transferred to San Beda during the pandemic and quickly became one of the team's veteran leaders. Although an injury sidelined him for NCAA Season 98, he returned for his final year of eligibility in Season 99 and helped the Red Lions reclaim the NCAA championship alongside Jacob Cortez, Yukien Andrada, James Payosing, and Peter Alfaro.

It was that same championship run with Gallego that head coach Yuri Escueta reminded his players of before tipoff, urging them to honor him with the same grit and togetherness that defined their championship run.

"I think 80 percent of our talk was about JV. And just looking back to the good memories JV had and most importantly, the story about JV's sacrifice in our Season 99 championship run," Santos shared.

"He embodied sacrifice and he's such a great inspiration to us in terms of being able to stay ready when someone's name is called in our team. Guys played together. I think no team is deadlier than a team that plays for something. And playing for JV today really brought us together."

San Beda will now look to replicate that championship success in the FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup as it faces JRU in the finals.

The Heavy Bombers, however, hold the upper hand after handing the Red Lions a loss in their lone meeting in the elimination round.

"Syempre magsisimula 'yan sa preparation namin sa practices and 'yun nga, 'yung talo namin [sa kanila] siguro isa 'yun sa magdadagdag ng apoy para makabawi kami and to win the championship," Aldous Torculas said.

(Of course, that starts with our preparation in practices. We lost to to them so that will be one of the things that'll fan the flames for us to want to bounce back and to win the championship.)

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News