NCAA: San Beda sweeps San Sebastian for 16th overall men’s cage crown

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

SAN Beda went steady down the stretch as the defending champion annexed its record-tying 16th men’s basketball crown in the 87th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) on Wednesday.

And the win came at the expense of bitter rival San Sebastian Stags, 57-55, in Game 2 of the best-of-three finals.

MANILA. San Beda Red Lions cop their 16th men's basketball crown in the National Collegiate Athletic Association on Wednesday after sweeping San Sebastian Golden Stags in two games. (Virgil Lopez)

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“Every championship is always sweet. We always prepare hard for every season and this is the prize that we want. I had a good feeling that we will win the championship this year,” fifth-year mentor Frankie Lim told reporters at the Araneta Coliseum.

San Beda’s championship poise was seen in the payoff period, when it tightened up its defense to limit San Sebastian to just five points.

Prior to that, both squads engaged in a see-saw encounter, which saw the Stags pounding on the Red Lions in almost every possession.

But these encounters were not enough to down the Red Lions after veteran Ronald Pascual missed a game-winning triple in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter to ice the match.

The Red Lions took Game 1, 75-63, also after dominating their opponents in the final 10 minutes of the contest.

With the feat, San Beda now ties Letran with 16 titles, while San Sebastian’s goal of making it on top of the heap was denied anew by the streaking Red Lions.

San Beda and Sebastian met in the finals of the last two seasons with the Lions copping the crown through an 18-game sweep in 2010 and the Stags winning the diadem a year back.

Fil-Australian David Semerad drained 13 of team-high 15 points in the last two frames while Anjo Caram and Cebuano guard Jess Mar Villahermosa connived for 18 points for San Beda.

Pascual, meanwhile, paced San Sebastian with 15 markers, six boards and three assists. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)