San Beda College exacted revenge on first-round tormentor Letran College, pulling away from their Saturday showdown with a 73-44 rout in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 90 seniors basketball at The Arena in San Juan City.
Led by forward Arthur de la Cruz’s strong third quarter performance, the Red Lions weathered their rival’s comeback bids to extend their lead atop the standings.
The lefty de la Cruz finished with 17 points and six rebounds, followed by Nigerian center Ola Adeogun with 14 points and 10 boards.
Their win gives them a 12-2 won-lost record after downing both teams that defeated them during the first round, while endangering the Knights’ attempt at making a run to the Final Four.
Late in the first period, the Red Lions went on a 12-0 run in the last 5:25 to turn a one-point deficit to an 11 point advantage, 19-8, early in the second period.
But with the Knights streaking to make a comeback late in the second quarter, Kevin Racal was called for a controversial offensive foul during his three-point shooting motion that stopped their run.
Worse, he was whistled for a technical foul for complaining about the said call, giving San Beda the upper hand by the halftime break, 37-18.
In the third period, Racal and Mark Cruz led a comeback to cut down their 21-point deficit to just 13 that made the Red Lions quiver. However, de la Cruz powered his way to nine points during the quarter that inflated their lead back to 23, 53-30, in the last 2:46.
From there, the Red Lions piled it on against the misfiring Knights to eventually balloon their advantage to 32, 71-39, during the garbage time stretch.
“I told them that Letran is a very strong team, so we should be prepared for their game plan. They have a good system and a great coach. I was just thankful that we won this one,” said Coach Boyet Fernandez.
“As I told my boys, there were many factors in why we needed to win this game. If we lose this game, we don’t know if we’re going to face Letran again this season, so I challenged them that we have to win this game para makabawi kami sa Letran,” he added.
“We stuck to our game plan, we had a defensive game plan. We limited their score to just 18 points in the first half.”
Mark Cruz was the lone double-digit scorer for Letran with 10 points, while Kevin Racal posted eight. The loss dropped the Knights to a 6-8 (won-lost) slate for the season, their second loss in their last four games.
