SAN BEDA College fought off a spirited comeback by defending champion De La Salle University to eke out an 86-80 overtime win on opening day Saturday of the 2015 Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup at The Arena in San Juan City.
Baser Amer, who will play his last season for the five-time defending champion Red Lions in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, erupted for 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Nigerian center Ola Adeogun contributed in 15 points with 11 rebounds and four blocks.
But Arthur de la Cruz quietly did his job and sneaked in 14 points and nine rebounds—including four of eight unanswered San Beda points in the first 2:15 of the extra period—to help put away the new-look De La Salle five.
It was the first win by San Beda under new Head Coach Jamike Jarin, who previously mentored the country’s Under-16 program.
“We were careless…because we’re still introducing a few new things to our system. We’re still not good at it and we have a tendency to relax. So, I blame myself for that, because as their head coach I should be on top of everything,” noted Jarin.
Andrei Caracut showed glimpses of what he could do for De La Salle, scoring 22 points—17 in the first half—on a near-perfect six-of-eight shooting in his debut for the Green Archers. Guards Jeron Teng and Kib Montalbo each tallied 13 points in the match that ended in regulation.
University of the East (UE), meanwhile, survived a tough late challenge by a short-handed University of Santo Tomas (UST) for a 60-59 victory also on Saturday.
In juniors action, defending UAAP champion Ateneo de Manila outlasted six-time defending National Collegiate Athletic Association titlist San Beda College, 72-66, behind the strong performance of Batang Gilas standout Jolo Mendoza, who had 18 points in the game.
The Red Warriors, who barely missed last year’s University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Final Four, made crucial stops and free throws in the end game to snatch the win.
UST tried a breakaway with a 7-0 run early in the fourth quarter to erect a six-point advantage, 54-48. But a barrage of three-pointers from Red Warriors gunners Paul Varilla, Joshua Gonzales and Philip Manalang leveled the count at 57-all.
A split from the line by Cameroonian center Bernard Awana and two free throws by Gonzales off UST center Christian Kakonda and Jamil Sheriff gave them the cushion.
UST had one last chance to steal the game in their final possession as Bonleon launched a long trey from the left corner with six seconds left. He missed.
Second-year forward Varilla led the rookie-laden Red Warriors with 10 points and 10 rebounds, followed by rookie guard Joshua Gonzales with nine markers off the bench. Forward Chris Javier and Awana led their frontcourt’s grind with eight and seven markers, respectively.
Former La Salle Greenhills forward Mario Bonleon made his collegiate debut with 17 points and nine rebounds. Ed Daquioag had 12 points for the Growling Tigers.
UST played without veteran mainstays Karim Abdul, Louie Vigil, Renzo Subido and Kevin Ferrer, who are either injured or attending to prior commitments this summer.
UE head coach Dindo Pumaren said the Red Warriros are still adjusting in the post-Roi Sumang, Charles Mammie and Moustapha Arafat era.
“This team is still far from being in form. Some of these guys have been with us for a week or so. I’ve got a lot of freshmen. The guys are still trying to learn the system, especially the new guys. So far, we’re still far from it,” Pumaren said.
“We’re not here just to win, but we’re here to learn the system and to do what we’re supposed to do out there. Even if things aren’t going right, we can’t run away from it. This is part of the program and this is part of the preparation for UAAP,” he added.
“The good thing is that the UAAP is still in September. We’ve got a lot of time to adjust without [Roi Sumang]. That is the good news for us. We just have to come out and adjust, especially [rookie guard Philip] Manalang.”
Image credits: Kevin dela Cruz