Red Lions complete first-round sweep

MANILA, Philippines — San Beda played tough while facing an expected fierce challenge from Mapua and carved out a 69-60 win to complete a first-round sweep in the 95th NCAA basketball tournament at the Cuneta Astrodome yesterday.

Calvin Oftana struck the hardest and fired a game-high 24 points as the Red Lions snapped the Cardinals’ three-game run and stretched their own streak to nine games.

“We expected a tough fight and we got it. We just executed better and made key stops,” said San Beda coach Boyet Fernandez.

The Cardinals showed some real fight in the first three quarters before losing steam as they fell to 3-6.

Earlier in the day, Jerrick Balanza exploded for 26 points including four booming triples as Letran clobbered St. Benilde, 88-64.

Balanza has been on unbelievable resurgence after a recovery from a brain operation. His 26-point explosion against the Blazers came right on his 23rd birthday.

“He’s playing like it’s his birthday the whole season because he’s really playing big for us the whole of the first round,” said Letran mentor Bonnie Tan.

 “I’m just happy to be given another chance to do what I love most, which is to play basketball,” said Balanza, the league’s second leading scorer with a career-high average of 16.9 points a game including a 31-point explosion early in the season.

The Knights sustained the fire of a hot start with Balanza doing most of the damage.

The Muralla-based dribblers made it 73-49 at the end of third canto and was never threatened from there.

The scores:

First Game

Letran 88 – Balanza 26, Batiller 10, Olivario 7, Muyang 7, Caralipio 6, Yu 6, Ular 6, Balagasay 6, Ambohot 5, Reyson 5, Mina 2, Sangalang 2, Javillonar 0, Guarino 0.

St. Benilde 64 – Belgica 12, Haruna 8, Naboa 7, Flores 7, Carlos 7, Nayve 6, Sangco 5, Lepalam 5, Gutang 3, Young 3, Leutcheu 1, Dixon 1, Velasco 0, Mosqueda 0.

Quarterscores: 25-15, 46-35, 73-49, 88-64

Second Game

San Beda 69 – Oftana 24, Canlas 10, Tankoua 10, Abuda 7, Bahio 5, Carino 4, Nelle 3, Doliguez 3, Soberano 3, Etrata 0, Alfaro 0, Noah 0.

Mapua 60 – Hernandez 16, Lugo 13, Gonzales 11, Bonifacio 7, Bunag 4, Gamboa 4, Victoria 2, Serrano 2, Salenga 1, Jabel 0.

Quarterscores: 16-16, 30-28, 49-45, 69-60