Art Dela Cruz received a lob inbound pass from Rome Dela Rosa with 3.7 seconds left to save the defending champions San Beda Red Lions from the upset ax of hosts College of St. Benilde Blazers, 71-70, in the opening game of the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. The Red Lions, who were off to a hot start and dominated most of the game, nearly lost a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter as Fons Saavedra launched an open three-pointer with 4.7 seconds remaining in the game to complete a 22-8 rally for a 70-69 CSB lead. But Dela Rosa found an open Dela Cruz in the paint after the ensuing timeout as the latter got past the defense of Michael Bartolo for the alley-oop set to the delight of the Bedan crowd. The Blazers had one final push to completely steal the game, but Paolo Taha’s desperation heave from beyond the arc was off the mark. Dela Cruz led San Beda with 16 points on 7/13 shooting and 11 rebounds, while Mark Romero led CSB with 19. In the nightcap, the Letran Knights held on to a 74-69 win at the expense of the San Sebastian Golden Stags in a rematch of last year’s semifinals. Raymund Almazan had a monster outing with 15 points, 20 rebounds, and five blocks for the Knights, playing for the first time minus Kevin Alas and with new coach Caloy Garcia. Letran led by as much as 11 in the third quarter of a relatively-close match from the start, but rookie Stag Jamil Ortuoste went hot in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 61-all. But the Knights held on to the win as San Sebastian failed to continue their potential winning push in the end. Bradwyn Guinto led the Golden Stags with 17 points and 14 boards, but San Sebastian did not get help from their rookie scorers C.J. Perez and Leo De Vera, who were limited to a combined 15 points.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 03:29:17 +0000
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