San Beda goes 2-0 in its eliminations head-to-head against Benilde after carving out a 80-76 win on Friday, giving the Red Lions the solo top seed in Group B. 

Bryan Sajonia and Yukien Andrada scored 22 and 23 points, respectively, and accounted for eight of SBU’s 11 threes as the Red Lions averted a late-game collapse following Benilde’s fightback during the last five minutes of the fourth quarter.

SBU had cruised to a 16-point cushion after three quarters– even extending the gap to a game-high 18 at the start of the final frame– before big man Shawn Umali supercharged the Blazers’ 13-0 run.

San Beda’s response came in the form of Sajonia’s bail-out three off a Nygel Gonzales assist to beat the shot clock, but the Blazers just would not go gentle into that good night, getting to as close as 73-74 after Jake Gaspay’s trey with 59 seconds left. 

Another Sajonia triple that extended the Red Lions’ advantage to 4 could’ve been the dagger, but Tony Ynot answered right back with his own long-distance conversion, 77-76.

Sajonia and Janti Miller would go on to make three free throws in the endgame to hammer the final nails in the coffin and take the win. 

Team captain Andara had four treys in the ball game, while Miller– the league’s top scorer this season– struggled from the field but still extracted 11 points and 10 boards.

Ynot top-scored for the Blazers with 21 to go along with 8 boards, while Shawn Umali had 16 and 4 in the losing effort.