MANILA, Philippines - San Beda unleashed a big run bridging the third and fourth quarters as it turned back Emilio Aguinaldo, 92-69, to remain atop the heap and move closer to the Final Four in the 88th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
Up by just three, 56-53, midway in the third period, the Lions tightened up the defensive screws and went on a 23-2 tear to stretch that lead to 79-55, early in the fourth quarter.
That was enough to put the game away.
Jake Pascual came through with six points in that crucial stretch and finished with 19 points he topped with a game-high 12 rebounds as the Lions nailed down their fifth straight win and 12th overall against two losses.
The win gave San Beda at least a playoff for a Final Four berth while keeping its campaign of finishing the elimination round on top two with a twice-to-beat advantage.
“It was our defense,” said San Beda coach Ronnie Magsanoc.
It also helped San Beda that EAC’s Cameroonian center Noube Happi was assessed his third foul just as the Generals were closing the gap.
When the 6-7 Happi, a cinch to win a place in the First Mythical Team, sat down due to foul trouble, the Lions pounced on it and launched a massive attack that ripped the Generals apart.
EAC clawed its way back relying mostly on its hot-shooting from beyond the arc where it buried nine of its first 12 three-pointers.
In the nightcap, Letran drew strength from other sources when lead scorer Kevin Alas went into foul trouble as it repeated over San Sebastian, 82-67, to overtake idle Jose Rizal (8-6) at fourth place with a 9-6 record.
Alas wound up with a team-high 23 points to hike his total to 88 points in their last three games but it was the troika of Kevin Racal, Mark Cruz and Jam Cortes who came through when the former sat out for a long stretch due to foul trouble.
Racal, Cruz and Cortes ended up with a combined output of 42 points.
The Stags, who were led by Calvin Abueva’s 27 points and 18 boards, fell to their fourth setback against 11 wins to remain at No. 2. On two free throws by Remy Morada, the Generals trimmed their deficit to 53-56 but just lost their three-point ammos and went two-of-16 after it, allowing the Lions to fashion out an emphatic triumph.
San Beda thus swept EAC this season after its 81-65 win in the first round last July 19.
The Generals fell to their ninth loss against five wins.
Rome dela Rosa, Art Dela Cruz and Nigerian Ola Adeogun provided the needed help and ended up with 17, 15 and 11 points, respectively.
In juniors’ action, San Sebastian smashed Letran, 75-51, to remain at the helm with a 14-1 record, barely ahead of second-running San Beda, which hammered EAC, 111-51, to improve to 13-1.