Hermida's triple double propels Lions

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda drew strength from Borgie Hermida’s triple double performance as it dumped Emilio Aguinaldo, 92-68, yesterday to remain on track for an elimination round sweep in the 86th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

Hermida, who is trying his luck in the PBA Draft, churned out 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple double effort that propelled the Lions to their 10th win in a row.

“For him to get noticed by PBA teams, he must use the NCAA as a showcase and I’m glad he’s responding to the challenge,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim.

Garvo Lanete finished with 17 points while Anthony Semerad chipped in 14 for San Beda.

American Sudan Daniel, a contender for the MVP plum, further boosted his stock with eight points, eight boards and seven blocks.

The Generals fell to their eighth setback against two wins.

Earlier, San Sebastian bucked the loss of Calvin Abueva and an ailing Ronald Pascual as it downed St. Benilde, 62-51, yesterday to remain at second with a 9-1 win-loss slate.

John Raymundo scored nine of his 14 points in the third quarter where the Stags pulled away and established a sizeable lead they preserved until the end.

Abueva had a seven-point first quarter output but he went down with a sprained right ankle late in the period and didn’t check back in the game while Pascual, the team’s second leading scorer, sat out the entire match.

“Ronald was sick and Calvin sprained an ankle. Good thing my other players stepped up,” said San Sebastian coach Ato Agustin, who will coach his last season this year after getting official appointment as coach of San Miguel Beer in the PBA.

Carlo Lastimosa led all scorers with 26 points but couldn’t draw support from the rest of the team as the Blazers took their eighth setback against two victories.

“Our goal is to stop either Lastimosa and (Mark) de Guzman or both and we succeeded in stopping one,” said Agustin, referring to De Guzman, who was held to just a point after missing all his six field goal attempts.

In juniors’ action, San Beda walloped EAC, 70-56, to remain atop the standings with a 9-1 slate while San Sebastian trounced CSB, 74-69, to improve to a share of fourth with Jose Rizal on 6-4 slates.

Abueva, who leads everyone in the statistical race after the first round, unleashed a hot start with seven points, seven rebounds, an assist and a steal but sprained his left ankle just seconds remaining before the opening canto ended.

With Abueva and Pascual gone, the Blazers inched their way back and even snatched a 30-28 lead on four unanswered points by Lastimosa midway in the third.

But Raymundo unloaded two triples and the Stags were never in trouble again.