MANILA – San Beda University Red Lions and Lyceum Pirates booked a return trip to the finals of the NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball after disposing of their semifinals foes on Friday at the San Juan Arena.
The Red Lions advanced to the finals for the 13th consecutive year after an 83-72 victory over University of Perpetual Help Altas, while the Pirates forged a finals rematch with San Beda after defeating Letran Knights 109-85.
Amiel Cris Soberano came up with huge outside conversions in the second half as the Red Lions turned a 39-38 deficit to a 44-39 advantage with back-to-back triples late in the third canto.
With the Altas keeping the match close in the final quarter, Soberano knocked down two more triples for the Red Lions to widen the lead to its largest at 11 points and never looked back.
Soberano finished the match with 12 points, all in the second half, while Robert Bolick and Donald Tankoua led the way for the Red Lions, the defending champions, with 23 and 14 points, respectively.
In the first game, the Pirates got its shooting going in the second half to pull away from the hard fighting Knights and return to the championship round for the second straight year.
Trailing 55-56 midway in the third period, the Pirates unloaded a huge 15-0 scoring run behind Mike Nzeusseu, Jaymar Perez and Bacolodnon Spencer Pretta for a 70-56 advantage.
Problems compounded the Knights further with Ilonggo star guard John Calvo going down with an injury, allowing the Pirates to widen the lead further 105-68, their biggest in the match.
Nzeusseu finished with double-double 23 points and 17 rebounds, Perez had 19 markers, five rebounds and four steals, while former Sun Yat Sen High School standout Pretta had career-best 15 markers for the Pirates./PN
