Lions, Pirates oust foes to arrange finals rematch

MANILA, Philippines – San Beda outlasted Perpetual Help, 83-72, and Lyceum of the Philippines University routed Letran, 109-85, on Friday to arrange a title rematch in the 94th NCAA basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.

Robert Bolick came through with clutch baskets and finished with a game-high 23 points as the top-seeded Lions outlasted the No. 4 Altas and booked their 13th straight finals appearance in a span that netted them 11 championships.

It was San Beda’s fifth win in six Final Four games against Perpetual Help in a victory that arranged a dream best-of-three finals sequel with LPU starting on November 6 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Javee Mocon and Donald Tankoua chipped in 14 and 13 points, respectively, and AC Soberano poured in four booming triples that came in runs bridging the third and fourth quarters to help San Beda fend off repeated fightbacks by Perpetual Help.

“It’s a great feeling to be back in the finals,” said San Beda coach Boyet Fernandez, whose charges swept the Pirates in the finals in two games last season. “The motivation is to win a three-peat but it’s going to be tougher this time.”

Mike Nzeusseu exploded with 23 points and spiked his effort with 17 rebounds including nine on the offensive board while reigning MVP CJ Perez came off the bench and scattered 19 points on top of five caroms, four steals and three assists.

“We want to dictate the tempo early whoever we start,” said LPU coach Topex Robinson.

For the first time this season, Robinson decided to use Perez off the bench and it worked as the Pirates had a strong start and zoomed to a 29-13 lead late in the first quarter.

The Knights battled their way back and managed to cut it to just a 47-51 deficit at halftime.

And then starting point guard JP Calvo suffered a high ankle sprain seconds passed the third period after he collided with Nzeusseu.

Although Letran managed to snatch the lead for the first time following a Jeo Ambohot triple, 56-55, with a little over six minutes remaining in the third period, it was never the same for the team minus Calvo as LPU dropped a 15-0 blitz to break the game wide open.

“Even if they had those big runs, we stuck together and that really helped us,” said Robinson.

Earlier, upsets rocked the juniors’ division as No. 4 Jose Rizal shocked defending champion College of St. Benilde-La Salle Greenhills, 81-78, and No. 3 San Beda stunned last year’s runner-up Mapua, 84-71, to force a pair of do-or-die final four matches on Monday.

The scores:

First Game

LPU 109 — Nzeusseu 23, Perez 19, Marcelino JC 15, Pretta 15, Ayaay 11, Santos 9, Caduyac 8, Tansingco 3, Ibanez 2, Serrano 2, Yong 2, Cinco 0, Lumbao 0, Marcelino JV 0, Valdez 0

Letran 85 — Muyang 21, Quinto 12, Fajarito 11, Taladua 10, Ambohot 9, Calvo 9, Batiller 6, Celis 4, Galvelo 3, Agbong 0, Mandreza 0, Yu 0, Pambid 0

Quarterscores: 29-16; 51-47; 81-64; 109-85

Second Game

San Beda 83 – Bolick 23, Mocon 14, Tankoua 13, Soberano 12, Cabanag 9, Eugene 5, Canlas 4, Presbitero 3, Oftana 0, Abuda 0, Doliguez 0, Nelle 0

Perpetual Help 72 – Razon 16, Peralta 16, Eze 13, Charcos 12, Aurin 7, Coronel 5, Jimenez 3, Cuevas 0

Quarterscores: 13-11; 27-24; 53-48; 83-72