Defending champion San Beda turned what was expected to be a close contest with San Sebastian College-Recoletos into a 91-76 rout and the red-hot Lions streaked to their 13th straight win in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament yesterday at The Arena in San Juan City.
James Canlas starred in San Beda’s latest win by scoring 20 points aside from posting five assists and four rebounds.
San Beda’s win extended its winning streak to 27 overall dating back in last season’s elims.
More importantly, the gained the first semis berth after Letran repeated over College of St. Benilde, 87-74.
Ato Ular finished with 20 points and eight rebounds while Fran Yu had 19 points, eight assists and four boards as the Knights improved to 9-4 while the Blazers fell to 6-6.
Cameroonian center Donald Tankoua contributed 18 points with eight rebounds, while top MVP contender Calvin Oftana had 15 points, eight boards and four assists, and AC Soberano added 14 points off the bench as the Lions repeated over the Stags.
San Beda coach Boyet Fernandez was all praises to his players, saying: “I’m really happy the way my players responded today,” said Fernandez, who also got 11 and 10 points, respectively from Evan Nelle and Clint Doliguez.
“As long as we play as a team, we work as a team, I think we have a good chance of getting some more wins. We have to get some wins so we can fortify our position on top. That’s really our goal,” he added.
San Sebastian fell to 7-5 despite getting 16 points from RK Ilagan while shooter Allyn Bulanadi had 15 points. (Waylon Galvez)
The scores:
SAN BEDA 91 – Canlas 20, Tankoua 18, Oftana 15, Soberano 14, Nelle 11, Doliguez 10, Bahio 2, Cuntapay 1, Abuda 0, Alfaro 0, Cariño 0.
SSC-R (76) – Ilagan 16, Bulanadi 14, Calahat 12, Sumoda 9, Capobres 8, Calma 7, Desoyo 4, Cosari 3, Altamirano 3, Villapando 0, Isidro 0, Loristo 0.
Quarters: 30-17, 51-43, 71-62, 91-76.
