SAN Beda is unstoppable in notching its seventh straight win in the 86th NCAA men's basketball tournament as it nipped the sliding St. Benilde, 87-61, Wednesday afternoon at The Arena in San Juan.
Adler dela Rosa exploded for 14 points while Garvo Lanete regained his composure after a mild sprain last week by pouring in 10 of his 12 points in the pay off period.
"We started to make our shots in the third quarter and that sparked our big second half run," said San Beda coach Frankie Lim, whose wards are gearing up for the much-anticipated showdown against the defending champions San Sebastian on August 18.
CSB extended its losing streak to six against a lone win as Mark de Guzman bannered the Blazers with a game-high 16 points.
As proof of their dominance, San Beda turned the tables on St. Benilde by reversing a two-point setback at the end of the first half to a 50-point rampage in the final quarters of the game.
Skipper Borgie Hermida, playing his fifth and last season as he applies for the PBA rookie draft late this month, ignited the second half breakaway as he came through with a superb all-around effort with six points, a game-high eight assists and five boards.
In juniors' action, reigning titlist San Beda leaned on a 16-point and 13-assist effort of Baser Amer as it downed St. Benilde, 71-67, to remain atop the heap with a 6-1 (win-loss) slate.
San Sebastian, for its part, drew strength from Gino Jumao-as' 20-point performance as it dumped Arellano U, 76-58, to improve to a 4-3 card.
Chess hostilities
Over at the Cyberzone of the SM City Manila, St. Benilde continued its winning ways in the chess seniors division by trouncing Letran, 2.5-1.5.
Nanquingden Reyes delivered the match-clinching win on board three after Joel Pimentel, Jr., Jerson Bitoon and Nanquingel Reyes drew with Chester Brian Guerrero, Ivan Gil Biag and Jesus Alfonso Datu on boards one, two and four, respectively.
San Sebastian downed Arellano U, 4-0, to move 2.5 points off the pace while Letran was at distant third with 27 points.
In juniors' action, reigning titlist San Sebastian and La Salle-Greenhills fought Arellano U and Letran to 2-2 standoffs, respectively, to remain at joint first place.
Marcus Ray Coronel and Paulo Cristobal delivered the wins on the top two boards while the Junior Chiefs drew victories from Carlo Caranyagan and Jay Gutierrez on the lower boards.
Jan Nigel Galan and Giovanni Mejia provided the points for the Junior Blazers with wins on boards one and two while the Squires forced the deadlock on triumphs by Christian Cabida and Christian Drapete on board three and four.
San Sebastian and CSB now have identical scores of 29 points while Arellano U and Letran still remained within striking distance with 27.5 and 26.5 points, respectively.
The scores:
San Beda (87)- dela Rosa 14, Lanete 12, K. Pascual 11, Daniel 11, Hermida 6, J. Pascual 6, Villahermosa 6, Marcelo 5, A. Semerad 4, D. Semerad 4, Lim 4, Sorela 2, Mendoza 2, Moralde 0, Caram 0
St. Benilde (61)- de Guzman 16, Lastimosa 14, Tan 8, Argamino 6, McCoy 4, dela Paz 4, Amin 3, Sinco 2, Wong 2, Abolucion 2, Melocoton 2, Manalac 0
Games Friday (The Arena, San Juan)
2 p.m.- Letran vs Arellano U
4 p.m.- Jose Rizal vs EAC
(Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)