Champs claim 5-peat over Chiefs, taking Lions’ share

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda nailed its fifth straight championship by rolling past an overmatched Arellano U side, 89-70, yesterday, completing a sweep of this year’s NCAA men’s basketball crown and firming up its claim as the league’s most dominant team the last 10 years.

Before a jampacked crowd at the MOA Arena in Pasay City, the Red Lions showed their superiority over the Chiefs in all fronts and cruised to a one-sided victory for its fifth straight championship and eighth in the last nine years for a league-best 19 titles.

San Beda trailed only twice, both coming in the early minutes of Game Two, and allowed just three deadlocks in the best-of-three series to underscore its supremacy over a team that struggled in its first crack at the championship.

So dominating were the Lions that they were celebrating their five-peat as early as the middle of the fourth quarter of the game that turned into a virtual free-throw contest in the end.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Red Lions, with five-peat champions imprinted on their shirts, whooped it on the court with their fans, including No 1 patron and Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Manny V. Pangilinan.

“This is the product of my players’ hard work and I thanked them for making me look a good coach,” said San Beda mentor Boyet Fernandez, who now moves to the NLEX team in the PBA. “I’d also like to thank MVP and the San Beda Fathers for believing in me.”

In the juniors’ finale, the Red Cubs leaned on Marc Diputado’s 19-point effort as they stopped the Mapua Red Robins, 78-68, to force a deciding Game Three on Saturday, also at the MOA Arena.

Mapua took the opener, 84-75.

At stake in the sudden death is the league’s most titled school honors as San Beda and Mapua have racked up 20 championships apiece.

Fil-Aussie Anthony Semerad, who scored 14 points in Game One, exploded with a career-high 30 points, including 12 putback points in the fourth quarter and went on to bag the Finals MVP honors.              

Other heroes also emerged from the star-studded SBC crew.

Nigerian Ola Adeogun had an impressive series, norming 14.5 points, 11 rebounds and 3.5 blocks while Arthur Dela Cruz was equally solid with a double-double game of 12 points and 10 boards.

Fil-Am Kyle Pascual, who is expected to sign up with Manny Pacquiao and KIA in the pro league, played his last game in red and white uniform by pounding his way to 16 points and eight caroms. He was the only member of the champion team the last five years.

For Baser Amer, the ace playmaker had a finals high 13 assists to go with four points and the same number of rebounds. He finished the series with averages of 10.5 points, 10 assists and 4.5 boards.

And this could be Amer’s last game.

“I’m not sure if I’m coming back next year,” said the 22-year-old Amer.

For Arellano U, the Chiefs simply cracked up under pressure while playing on the big stage for the first time.

It didn’t help that the Chiefs were assessed 37 fouls as against the Lions’ 26, turning Game Two in a free throw shooting contest.

San Beda went to the line 50 times, making 35, while the Chiefs went to the foul line just 24 times and drained 15.