SAN Beda walloped age-old rival Letran, 77-60, Wednesday night at the Arena in San Juan.
Size advantage and deep bench proved pivotal for San Beda as the Recto-based squad dominated its archrival all throughout the game.
San Beda kept a clean slate at 4-0 while Letran dropped to 1-3 with the loss.
The Knights, who are hard pressed to move up in the standings, had a hard time matching the intensity of the Red Lions, who led as high as 24 points in the middle of the final canto.
MANILA. San Beda coach Frankie Lim expected a close match against archrival Letran, but the complete reverse ensued Wednesday night. (Sunnex/Virgil Lopez)
Earlier, three-time champion Louie Alas admitted that his team will find it difficult to upend San Beda on their first encounter this season.
“Matchup problem, they're huge and long plus very physical defensively. For us to compete, we have to minimize our turnovers, fight for rebounds and play tough defense," he said.
His statements proved prophetic for Letran’s inevitable loss as the Intramuros-based squad registered a poor 26 percent shooting on the paint as compared to San Beda’s 33 percent.
Burying triples was an uphill task for Letran too as San Beda outpaced them in the three-point area, 49 percent against 35 percent.
“We just played good defense. There are no secrets. All the drives, all the deflections, all the things you don’t see in the stats sheet matter,” said Lim.
Setting the tone for the Red Lions is veteran guard Garvo Lanete who scored 22 points on nine of 15 shooting, including four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Borgie Hermida and first half leader Jake Pascual chipped in 16 and eight points, respectively.
Franz Dysam paced the Knights with 11 markers while Jayoee Belencion added nine for Letran.
The Knights last won against the Red Lions in July 25, 2007 on a 70-69 decision.
In the other contest, the Leo Isaac-coached Arellano Chiefs have arrested a three straight loss after nipping Perpetual Help, 86-67.
Arellano upped their record to 2-3 while Perpetual is still listless in five outings.
The Scores
First Game:
Arellano (86)- Acidre 24, Celada 18, Ciriacruz 14, Zulueta 12, Lapuz 9, Del Rosario 4, Advincula 3, Virtudazo 2, Caperal 0, Tayongtayong 0.
Perpetual (67)- Danganan 13, Alano 12, Ynion 12, Allen 11, Vidal 5, Arboleda 5, Jolangcob 4, Elopre 3, Sumera 2, Sison 0, Asuncion 0.
rSecond Game:
San Beda (77)- Lanete 22, Hermida 16, Pascual J. 8, Mendoza 8, Dela Rosa 6, Semerad A. 6, Marcelo 6, Daniel 5, Villahermosa 0, Pascual K. 0, Semerad D. 0
Letran (60) – Dysam 11, Belencion 9, Alas 8, Cortes 6, Alas 6, Taplah 5, Almazan 5, Rodil 4, Espiritu 3, Pantin 2, Alejandro 1, Belorio 0.
rTeam Standings
San Sebastian 4-0
San Beda 3-0
St. Benilde 1-0
Jose Rizal 3-1
Mapua 2-1
Arellano 2-3
Letran 1-3
Aguinaldo 0-3
Perpetual 0-5
Games Friday
2 p.m. Jose Rizal vs St. Benilde
4 p.m. Mapua vs. San Sebastian
(Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)