FilOil: San Beda bigs fuel Red Lions past FEU

The Kings of the NCAA may have taken a hiatus from the FilOil tournament, but their winning ways remained intact upon their return, as the San Beda College Red Lions outlasted the Far Eastern University Tamaraws 80-76, on Saturday at the FilOil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

“They just came back Wednesday, they just practiced as a team in the last two days,” said Coach Boyet Fernandez. “I’m just happy we came out of this game with the win."

The San Beda Red Lions recently concluded their annual basketball training camp abroad at the Joe Abunassar Impact Basketball Center in Los Angeles, California. This is the same camp that the Ateneo Blue Eagles attended this offseason, albeit in a different location as the Eagles flew to Las Vegas. The Mendiola-based squad last played a FilOil game on April 19 and only returned last May 15.

The Red Lions staved off the Tams’ final charge in the fourth quarter, as Ola Adeogun scored nine points in a crucial three-minute stretch to give San Beda a 76-68 lead. RR Garcia sank a triple and made all three free throws after drawing a foul on a three-point attempt to slash the lead to 76-74, but Art Dela Cruz spun for a lefty hook to give San Beda some breathing room.

On a Tams possession, Belo drew a foul from Adeogun and split his free throws. Ryusei Koga drew a foul on an attempt to the rim and also made a split. As Garcia failed to find an opening near the three-point line, he handed off the ball to Mike Tolomia, who had made three treys to that point game. Cris Tolomia fired from 25-feet but the ball hit the back iron instead.

The referees called a defensive foul and awarded Christian Sentcheu a trip to the line, but he sank only one, as San Beda still led 79-76. Mark Belo stole an inbounds pass from San Beda, but rushed his lay-up, which bounced off the rim. Adeogun drew a foul from the interior and his free throw iced the game, much to the delight of the roaring Red Lions crowd.

Art Dela Cruz top-scored for the boys in red and white with 18 points and seven rebounds. Adeogun tallied 15 points and nine rebounds, while Ryusei Koga chimed in with 10 points.

“Kailangan magstep-up sa amin. Medo may jet lag pa kami. Two practices pa lang kami”, said leading scorer Dela Cruz.

The Red Lions made 32 of their 72 shots (44 percent) while adding five makes off 24 attempts from the three-point line and 11 markers from 18 free throws. They scored 17 points from 19 FEU turnovers and turned the ball over only 10 times while assisting on 19 of their 32 shots.

When asked about their Los Angeles trip, coach Fernandez jokingly said, “What happens in LA stays in LA.”

The Red Lions registered win number three, jumping all the way up to the number two position in Group A play, while the Tamaraws take a slight dip to the fifth spot, just below the 3-2 Adamson Falcons.

Tolomia came out firing, making five straight points off a triple and a lay-in. Dela Cruz countered with a three-point play to make it 5-3, but Tolomia continued to make his triples, 8-3. It turned into a short duel between Dela Cruz and Tolomia, as the former hit a short floater, while the latter responded with his third triple of the quarter, 11-5.

A triple by Koga prompted FEU coach Nash Racela to call a timeout, and Garcia took the cudgels for the Tams by netting his own three, 14-8. Six unanswered points from Koga and Dela Cruz tied the game at 14-all, but a jumper by Garcia again gave the lead to FEU, 16-14. A triple by Baser Amer again swung the lead to San Beda’s favor, but Ron Dennison’s jumper made it 18-17 for the Tams.

The Red Lions scored four straight points off a hook by Dela Cruz and a jumper by Dave Semerad from the left wing, 21-18, but two straight baskets by Mac Belo stole the lead again for FEU as they led after one, 22-21.

San Beda reclaimed the lead off a jumper by Dave Semerad, 23-22. After a stab by Adeogun inside, the referees called an unsportsmanlike foul on Russel Escoto, after aggressively fighting for the ball in a scrum. SBC went up by 28-22 after the foul.

Free throws by Tolomia and a hook by Belo put the Tams within two, 28-26, but the Tams were in the penalty by the five-minute mark, and Dela Cruz took advantage, splitting his free throws to make it 29-26.

FEU played catch-up until the Red Lions built a nine-point lead off contributions from Rome Dela Rosa and Kyle Pascual. The Tams, however, went on a 7-2 run to go within four points after a pair of charities by Garcia. A triple by Amer from the left wing closed out the first half at 40-33.


Terrence Romeo only entered the game in the third quarter and injected instant offense, making a jumper to cut the lead to 40-35. A triple by Pascual upped San Beda’s lead to eight, but free throws from the green and gold made it a six-point game 43-37. Garcia even blocked Amer, as the latter was running for a fast break basket.

Amer struck back with a trey that extended the lead to nine points, 46-37, but FEU’s guards went on a scoring blitz, with Garcia and Romeo combining for 11 points to give FEU the lead at 48-46. Both teams faced three deadlocks, until a hook by Pascual and a bank shot by FracisAbarcar separated them from FEU, 54-50.

Still refusing to back down, FEU guard Archie Inigo hit a triple, and Carl Bryan Cruz nailed two free throws to give FEU the lead back at 55-54.

Both teams exchanged free throws, with Abarcar, Tolomia, Roger Pogoy, and Adeogun all making theirs, as the Red Lions held a slim one-point lead heading to the last quarter, 59-58.

Dela Cruz stole the lead again with another hook, and San Beda reserve Dan Sara compounded Dela Cruz’s effort with a lay-in to extend the Lions’ lead to 62-59 in the fourth. Both teams reached a deadlock thrice more, until Anthony Hargrove’s basket from the painted area made it a fourth tie at 66-all.

Adeogun used a variety of post moves to score eight straight points for the Red Lions, and Dela Cruz again hit a hook shot to create safe distance at 76-68. Garcia fired for six straight points and the Tams came back to breathe anew on the Red Lions’ necks at 76-74. A hook by Dela Cruz made it a two-possession game at 78-74, and the game turned into a shoot-out at the stripe, with San Beda coming out as victors.

The Tams made only 23 of their 63 shots (37 percent), and made nine conversions off their 27 tries from distance. They also eked out 21 points from 28 free throws attempts.

Far Eastern managed to out-rebound the Red Lions, 48-35, but were only able to convert seven second chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.

Garcia let off 23 points for the Tams, making 4-of-9 tries from the three-point line. Tolomia added 15 points and four assists.

The Red Lions face Group A stalwarts, the Arellano University Chiefs, on Wednesday, May 22 at 12:45pm, while the Tams battle the College of St. Benilde Blazers on Friday, May 24 at 4:15pm. - RAF, GMA News


The scores:

SBC – Dela Cruz 18, Adeogun 15, Koga 10, Amer 9, Pascual 9, Dela Rosa 6, Semerad 5, Abarcar 4, Semerad 2, Sara 2, Villaruz 0, Ludovice 0, Bonsubre 0

FEU – Garcia 23, Tolomia 15, Belo 9, Romeo 8, Cruz 4, Hargrove 4, Escoto 3, Inigo 2, Mendoza 2, Pogoy 2, Dennison 2, Sentcheu 1, Jose 0, Luz 0, Delfinado 0

Quarter scoring: 21-22, 40-33, 58-59, 80-76