Red Lions Smother Knights For 4th Win

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda stunned bitter rival Letran with a resolute defense and hammered out a 77-60 win to snare the solo lead in the 86th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

Garvo Lanete exploded with 22 points including 14 in key runs in the second half while Borgie Hermida had 16 points, a game-high 10 rebounds and five assists to power the Red Lions to their fourth straight victory, one ahead of the idle San Sebastian Stags.

But more than the Mendiola-based school’s offensive exploits, it was defense that spelled the difference for the Lions.

“I thought we surprised them with our full-court and half-court trapping defense, maybe they were expecting us to play man-to-man defense,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim.

It was the Lions’ eighth straight victory over the Knights, who fell to their third setback in four wins, since the former lost to the latter, 69-70, on a game-winning dunk by Letran’s Rey Guevarra over San Beda’s Sam Ekwe on July 25, 2007.

Arellano U, meanwhile, unleashed a mighty start as it downed Perpetual Help, 86-67, to end a three-game slide and get back into the thick of things in the 86th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

Rocky Acidre, a rookie transferee from Philippine Maritime Institute, erupted with a game-high 24 points including four triples while Adrian Celada, Isiah Ciriacruz and Vergel Zulueta fired 18, 14 and 12 points, respectively, to seal the Chiefs their second win in five outings.

Philippine Star