Cubs cop 18th in row, reach final

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda swept its way to the finals with a 76-67 victory over Letran Tuesday night that gave them a crack at an unprecedented seventh straight title in the 91st NCAA high school basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Cubs relied on their bench as Joshua Tagala, John Lagumen and Eduardo Velasquez scored 14, 13 and 11 points, respectively, to complete their 18-game sweep of the double-round elimination.

But the reigning six-peat feat winner needed to buck a poor start, settling down in the second period to grab a 36-28 lead at the half. They sustained their charge at resumption then held off the Squires to fashion out the victory.

“We had a slow start but our bench stepped up to help us turn things around,” said San Beda coach JB Sison.

The sweep earned San Beda automatic finals entry with the Cubs taking a 1-0 edge in the best-of-five finals. They need to win just twice to clinch its seventh straight crown.

“Honestly, our goal before the season is to just defend the title with pride regardless of how many wins we get,” said Sison.

The last finals slot will be contested by No. 2 Mapua (15-3), No. 3 Arellano U (12-6) and joint fourth Lyceum of the Philippines U and La Salle-Greenhills, who will play in the stepladder semifinals.