MANILA – San Beda University Red Lions turned to Jayvee Mocon and Robert Bolick in the final quarter to cruise to an 82-75 win over San Sebastian College Stags in NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball at the San Juan Arena.
Trailing 64-65 early in the fourth period after torrid outside shooting by Stags’ Allyn Bulanadi, Bolick responded with three pointers of his own to swung the lead back to the Red Lions on Thursday night.
Mocon then came back with back-to-back outside hits as the Red Lions surged to an 82-72 advantage before allowing the Stags to have late shots to come to as close as seven.
Mocon finished the match with double-double 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Bolick and Donald Tankoua chipped in 18 and 16 points, respectively, for the defending champions Red Lions (13-1).
“These two guys (Mocon and Bolick) really did a good job of being the leaders of this team. As I’ve said, San Sebastian is a tough opponent and we always want to play close games,” said Red Lions head coach Teodorico Fernandez III.
For the Stags, Bulanadi led the way with 23 points – with 18 coming in the second half – while RK Ilagan contributed 20 markers.
With the defeat, the Stags’ three-game winning run was snapped to slide down to 4-10.
In the first game, Lyceum of the Philippines Pirates vented its ire on Arellano University Chiefs with a 113-79 domination to bounce back from its heartbreaker of a loss to the University of Perpetual Help Altas last week.
Six Pirates finish with double digit scoring with Jaycee Marcelino leading the way with 21 points while reigning MVP Jaymar Perez flirted with a triple-double before he ended up with 10 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
For the Pirates, MJ Ayaay, Spencer Pretta, Raymar Caduyac and Jeff Santos joined the shooting parade by scattering 16, 15, 13 and 11 points, respectively.
The Pirates nailed their 13th win in 14 outings and moved closer to securing a place in the Final Four./PN