Clinical basketball from start to finish.

This is the most apt description of how San Beda College handled upstarts Arellano University in Monday’s Game One of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) seniors basketball finals at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The seemingly experimental starting lineup of coach Boyet Fernandez comprised of four big men and one point guard worked wonders anew against their stiffest rival in Season 90.

Admittedly, Fernandez told reporters in the post-game presser that they “cannot beat” Arellano “in speed.”

“We matched up with height,” the bemedalled coach quipped.

This NBA-sized lineup, which put the 6’5” Anthony Semerad as shooting guard, the 6’4” Arthur de la Cruz as small forward, and 6’6” Kyle Pascual as power forward, stymied Arellano’s usual starting unit.

Though led by ace playmaker Baser Amer and the 6’10” Ola Adeogun statistics-wise, the three aforecited bigs-turned-swingmen-slash-shooters created a lot of problems for the Chiefs.

As such, the much smaller Zach Nicholls had to deal with Semerad while the lanky Levi Hernandez had to deal with the bulkier de la Cruz.

Fernandez would then shuffle his unit with two reserve big men in David Semerad, who is a much of a post presence than his shooter twin brother, and Jaypee Mendoza, a scavenger who thrives on loose balls and backdoor cuts.

Obviously, this hulking San Beda lineup disarmed the vaunted backcourt of assist and steals league leader Jiovani Jalalon and All-Star Games MVP John Pinto.

Jalalon fouled out midway in the fourth quarter when he just scored four straight points on successive fastbreak layups off steals for he had to guard Amer and Anthony Semerad alternately. Pinto, on the other hand, could not find his place in the ballgame, shooting airballs after airballs off his favorite pivot fadeaway.

Coach Jerry Codiñera then matched height with height, fielding in Allen Enriquez, Nico Bangga, and the lanky Keith Agovida as Rookie of the Year Dioncee Holts, a 6’7” converted power forward, played the small forward position.

The American drained successive pull-up jumpers off the dribble but once he misses, Adeogun is left with little competition in getting the rebounds.

The Chiefs had one last fight in the fourth quarter and they trimmed the San Beda’s 13-point lead to six, 57-63, thanks to their last-minute 1-3-1 full court press, which exploited Anthony Semerad’s inferiority as a dribbler.

Agovida then shined in the attempted run, grabbing offensive boards even against Adeogun and relentlessly attacking the basket with post-up drives, nevermind if he seemed to be a praying mantis posting up against a bunch of bears.

Agovida drew fouls off his efforts, but the lefty was a bane in the free throw line, missing eight free throws in the fourth quarter—eight possible points that could have tied the ballgame.

Aside from Agovida, Arellano muffed an additional four free throws in the quarter while San Beda missed only a pair from Roldan Sara. If all of their free throws were made, Arellano could have won, 78-76.

In the end, San Beda won in convincing fashion, notwithstanding Arellano’s misfortunes off the charity stripe. They won through a strong start, thanks to coach Fernandez’s stroke of genius and the response of the big Red Lions, and emerged victorious through ball movement, patience, and total teamwork to end the ballgame, thanks to Amer’s on-court leadership.

“The rule in this team is to share the ball. But another rule is to take the shots if you’re open,” the fourth-year playmaker said.

All is not lost though for Arellano, as the truth of the matter is that they were jittery in their offense.

“It’s more of adjustment [on our part] against the much stronger San Beda,” said Arellano University Head Coach Jerry Codiñera, who has been a champion player throughout his playing career. “We need to run, we can’t play against San Beda’s halfcourt offense.

And as a bright side for the Chiefs, they out-rebounded the redshirts inside blue territory, 24-14, despite San Beda’s four-big, one-small lineup.

“If your energy is high, it just rubs off to your teammates. So we must display the same energy in Game Two and get off a good start,” Codiñera hopes.

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