THE REIGNING champions San Beda Red Lions leaned on their vice-like defense to manhandle the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers, 62-37, in the 88th NCAA men’s basketball tournament late Saturday night at the Arena in San Juan City.
The Red Lions set the tone early on as they allowed JRU to score a mere 15 points in the first half. All in all, it was a long night for the gunners of the erstwhile league-leaders as they made no shots from beyond the arc while leading scorer Nate Matute was held down to a mere four markers.
San Beda’s win gave them a tie of the lead in the standings with last year’s runners-up, San Sebastian, as the two now have similar 6-1 (win-loss) records.
Center Kyle Pascual led the balanced effort by the Red Lions with 14 points while Ola Adeogun added 12. Art dela Cruz and Ryuzei Koga each chipped in 10./Correspondent Jonas Panerio