Lions buck big scare vs Blazers

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda scrambled at endgame to escape with a 79-78 victory over St. Benilde and gain a share of the lead with San Sebastian in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Rookie Baser Amer scored all his 11 points in the final quarter but muffed two pressure-packed charities in the last eight seconds with the Lions barely hanging on to a one-point lead.

The Blazers had a chance to snatch victory as Carlo Lastimosa took Amer’s miss and dribbled coast to coast but his floater bounced off the rim as time expired.

“We played with fire and we nearly got burned, it was a scary win and I’m really disappointed,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim.

The Lions came into the game with a winning average of 25 points but ran into a surprisingly tough Blazers’ side all game.

Kyle Pascual and Garvo Lanete fired 16 and 12 points, respectively, for the Lions, who notched their fourth win in a row in a tie with the Stags.

Lastimosa finished with 19 points for the Blazers, including a triple that gave the team a 69-67 lead midway in the final period.

“I have to give it to St. Benilde though, they prepared and played well against us,” said Lim.

St. Benilde took its third defeat against a win.

Earlier, Jose Rizal relied on Jeckster Apinan and Raycon Kabigting down the stretch as it erased an 18-point deficit to pull the rug from under Mapua in a pulsating 70-69 win.

Apinan and Kabigting combined for 30 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, as the Bombers nailed their second win in four games.

The Cardinals fell to 0-4.

“We were playing soft the first three quarters that’s why we trailed by a big margin,” said Jose Rizal mentor Vergel Meneses. “But we made the defensive adjustment in the fourth and we showed big heart that got us this win.”