Lions roar to 9th semis in row, smother Pirates

Games tomorrow

12 noon – Letran vs St. Benilde (Jrs/Srs)

4 p.m. – Jose Rizal vs San Sebastian (Srs/Jrs)

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda rolled to its ninth straight Final Four appearance, overcoming Ola Adeogun’s mediocre outing and Lyceum’s bruising game to fashion out a 76-60 romp in the 90th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Arthur dela Cruz came away with 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Fil-Aussie Anthony Semerad scattered 13 markers as they more than made up for their erratic game and Adeogun’s nine-point, six-rebound production to book their 13th win against two losses while easing the Pirates out of the semis race.

“Our goal is to make it to the top two and hope to win a five-peat for San Beda,” said coach Boyet Fernandez.

The Red Lions have also advanced to the finals the last eight years, winning seven, including the last four.

Fernandez, however, was far from being impressed.

“We’re lucky Lyceum played a bad game. We committed so many turnovers and we were outrebounded offensively,” he said.

Hounded by early foul woes, the 6-8 Adeogun struggled and even lost his temper after he was assessed a flagrant and a technical foul in the first half.

But Dela Cruz and Semerad stepped up to keep the Lions in control after barely taking first 20 minutes of the contest, 19-14 and 35-28.

Joseph Gabayni paced the Pirates with 22 points but his effort proved not enough to keep the team in the Final Four hunt with a 6-9 slate.

In the other game, Arellano U routed Emilio Aguinaldo, 105-88, to improve to 11-4 and zero in on its first-ever Final Four stint since it joined the league five seasons ago.

The Generals fell to 3-12.

The scores:

San Beda 76 – Dela Cruz 18, A. Semerad 13, Amer 9, Adeogun 9, Mendoza 8, Pascual 7, Tongco 5, Koga 4, Sara 2, D. Semerad 1, Mocon 0

Lyceum 60 – Gabayni 22, Baltazar 8, Taladua 7, Zamora 6, Mbida 5, Malabanan 5, Elmerjab 3, Bulawan 2, Maconocido 2, Pamulaklakin 0, Soliman 0, Lesmoras 0

Quarterscores: 19-14, 35-28, 57-42, 76-60

Second Game

Arellano U 105 – Caperal 18, Enriquez 12, Nicholls 11, Holts 11, Agovida 10, Hernandez 8, Jalalon 7, Ciriacruz 6, Palma 6, Pinto 0, Gumaru 4, Bangga 4, Cadavis 2, Ortega 0

EAC 88 – Tayongtong 25, Serrano 15, Jamon 12, General 9, Onwubere 8, Saludo 7, Mejos 6, Quilanita 4, Pascual 2, Santos 0, Arquero 0

Quarterscores: 24-13, 55-34, 85-57, 105-88