Lions rip Archers, annex National Collegiate crown

MANILA, Philippines - NCAA champion San Beda unleashed a strong finishing kick to frustrate former UAAP titlist La Salle, 73-67, and crown itself as the best of the best by winning the National Collegiate Championship title before a big crowd at the Ynares gym in Pasig City yesterday.

The Red Lions played catch-up majority of the way but poured it on  in the fourth quarter where they outscored the Archers, 26-17, to sweep their best-of-three series for their first-ever NCC championship. San Beda took the opener 88-81 last Thursday.

San Beda thus became the second team from the NCAA to win the annual tournament among the country’s best collegiate teams after San Sebastian pulled off the feat in 2011.

“We’re representing not just the school but the whole of NCAA so it’s really a great feeling to win here,” said Ola Adeogun, who bucked foul trouble for the second straight time to lead the Red Lions with a game-high 19-point output.

The Nigerian behemoth also held his ground in defense, limiting La Salle’s Cameroonian rookie Ben Mbala to 10 points to help the Lions clinch the victory.

In the one-game all-Cebu battle for third place, University of Visayas edged University of San Carlos, 63-60, with Michael Abad and Francis Arong leading the way with 19 and 15 points, respectively.

The Red Lions outplayed and outhustled the Archers in the clutch to seize a six-point lead then fended off the Taft-based squad’s rallies to complete the sweep.

After the final buzzer sounded, the Lions and their fans whooped it up at midcourt with Adeogun bagging the MVP honors and heading the Mythical Team that included teammates Baser Amer and Arthur dela Cruz and La Salle’s Jeron Teng and Thomas Torres.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president and San Beda benefactor Manny V. Pangilinan then joined the team in celebrations and later during the awards rites that feted the best individual performers and the champion and the runner-up squads.

“From the start, we kept on talking about pride because San Beda has never really made it here. Now we’re happy to have finally won,” said San Beda acting coach Adonis Tierra.

Former head coach Boyet Fernandez, now with the NLEX in the PBA, also joined the celebration.

Dela Cruz dished out a double-double job of 15 points and 13 rebounds while Amer struggled in the early going before finding his rhythm to finish with 14 markers.

It was, however, the Lions’ defense that made the difference in  their title romp.

“We knew that for us to have a chance to beat La Salle today (yesterday), we need to hold down Mbala. And we accomplished it in this game,” said Tierra.

Mbala, who also had 12 rebounds, fired 26 points and pulled down 14 rebounds in the Archers’ Game One loss.

Teng fired a game-high 25 points but missed key attempts from the long range down the stretch in the Archers’ desperate bid for a comeback.