Lions feast on Stags, near NCAA crown

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda fought its way out of a rough-and-tumble first three quarters with a torrid finish as it outlasted defending champion San Sebastian, 93-73, last night to move into the threshold of a rare sweep of the entire NCAA men’s cage season.

PBA-bound Borgie Hermida dazzled his way before a league-high 11,018 paying patrons at the Araneta Coliseum with 18 points, a game-high 13 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a shot block as he powered the Lions to a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-five title series.

San Beda, whose four-peat bid was foiled by San Sebastian last year, goes for the clincher and their 15th overall crown tomorrow as it tries to become the first team in the modern era to sweep its way to the crown in an entire NCAA season.

“I’m happy for my boys, they played an excellent game and followed our game plan,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim, whose charges came into the series with an outright 1-0 lead after essaying a historic 16-game sweep of the double-round elimination.

Other heroes also emerged in San Beda’s convincing win, including Garvo Lanete, Sudan Daniel, Rome dela Rosa and Anthony Semerad.

Lanete fired 17 points, including a couple of clutch baskets, while Daniel, who earlier bagged the MVP trophy over SSC’s Calvin Abueva in one of the closest races in recent years, added 15 points, including seven from the foul line. He also pulled down 10 rebounds.

Dela Rosa and Semerad, a Fil-Aussie rookie, likewise, made a big impact as they poured in 13 and 12 points, respectively.

“Borgie was tough, Su played well I think Anthony Semerad hit good shots for us. For a rookie and someone who is playing his first championship game,” said Lim.

The last team to sweep its way to the finals was San Sebastian, when it nailed its fourth of its unprecedented five-peat feat in 1996.

“We’d love to finish it off on Friday,” said Lim.

Abueva had a strong start but failed to come up with a strongr finish as he wound up with 22 points, 12 rebounds and three shot blocks.

John Raymundo and Ronald Pascual chipped in 15 and 12 points, respectively, for the Stags, who kept the game close in a highly physical contest in the first three quarters only to lose steam when it mattered most.

“We found out in this game that could match up with them but we just couldn’t finish strong and my second unit couldn’t produce,” said San Sebastian mentor Ato Agustin.

The Stags tied the count last at 58 with less than four minutes to go in the third quarter on a basket by Pascual.

But Hermida, set to suit up for Barako Bull in the PBA after the finals, scored five unanswered points, keying a decisive 12-2 run that closed the quarter at 72-60.

De la Rosa, Semerad and Lanete then joined Hermida in a virtual scoring spree as the Stags failed to stop the Lions while flubbing most of their offensive plays.

Earlier, the Red Cubs also posted an 89-64 rout of the Staglets in their own best-of-three series for the juniors crown.

Baser Amer lived up to his MVP title as he came through with 14 points and 18 assists, nearly completing a triple-double performance with nine rebounds.

Von Chavez emerged the team’s best scorer with 21 points while Adam Abatayo added 14 points and Chris Javier and Daryl Nazareno wound up with 13 points apiece.

“We learned our lesson because San Sebastian is one of the two teams that beat us this season,” said San Beda’s coach Brit Reroma.

“We just did the simple things like minimize our turnovers, control the boards and run as much as we can,” he said.

The Cubs also go for the clincher tomorrow.

Gino Jumao-as scored 31 points and finished with seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal while skipper Mark Magno had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Staglets.

Amer dished out 14 assists right in the first half that set the tone for the surprising rout.

“He (Amer) is really our distributor and I’m happy he played the way he did after receiving his MVP award,” said Reroma.

Joey Villar, Philippine Star