Red Cubs devour Staglets for sixth straight victory

MANILA, Philippines – San Beda turned back San Sebastian, 74-66, to nail its sixth straight win while Perpetual Help overran Letran, 88-68, to bolster its Final Four bid in the 92nd NCAA juniors basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City on Monday.

Sam Abu Hijle exploded with his season-high 30 points he spiked with 14 rebounds while Joshua Tagala and Evan Nelle scattered 12 and 11 points, respectively, to help power the eight-peat-seeking Cubs to their sixth win in row.

The Junior Altas, for their part, were led by Jielo Razon, who erupted for 23 points, and the troika of Errol Bongay, Jasper Cuevas and Esvin Inliwan, who added 15, 10 and 10 points, to nail their fourth win against three defeats, good for fourth.

Slowly but surely, Perpetual Help coach Barry Tobias is getting closer to steering the Las Pinas-based school to its first Final Four appearance in the high school division.

"We're happy but we're not satisfied because we're not yet in the Final Four," said Tobias, who took over from Lester del Rosario this season.

The Squires fell to 3-4 while the Staglets slid to their seventh straight defeat.

In the third game, St. Benilde trounced Jose Rizal, 70-63, to join Perpetual Help at No. 4 with a 4-3 slate.