Lions claw back to oust Blazers, forge NCAA finals duel vs Knights

MANILA, Philippines — The San Beda Red Lions are heading to the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball finals after rallying to edge the College of St. Benilde Blazers, 84-81, in their Final Four matchup Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

San Beda thus forged a best-of-three finals date with archrivals Letran Knights, who already punched their ticket to the championship round.

In the thick of it all was Red Lions sharpshooter Yuki Andrada, who finished with 27 points on 7-of-11 from deep. He also had four rebounds.

Janti Miller returned from sick bay with 26 markers, six boards and two steals.

The Blazers had a strong start, going up by 11 points, 45-34, at the half.

But the Red Lions stormed back, slicing the deficit to two, 67-69, in the final frame.

After Ian Torres hit a triple to push Benilde ahead by five, 72-67, San Beda strung together 11 straight points to take a 78-72 lead with 4:34 remaining.

Torres and Justine Sanchez then teamed up to make it a one-point affair, 77-78, before Andrada hit a trey once again to keep their opponents at bay, 81-77.

Allen Liwag tried to tow Benilde back into it, 81-82.

After Miller missed a triple on the other end, Tony Ynot missed a layup of his own and Andrada hauled down the rebound. But, he was fouled on the board.

With 24.8 seconds left, Andrada calmly sank both, pushing Beda to a three-point lead, 84-81.

Needing a 3-pointer to tie, the Blazers went to Torres, but his shot rattled out of the rim. Jhomel Ancheta was able to secure the rebound, but as he tried to step out to beyond the arc, the buzzer already sounded as the Red Lions celebrated.

Bryan Sajonia chipped in 10 markers for the winning team.

Ynot powered Benilde with 18 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Raffy Celis had 14 markers.

Torres tallied 12 points and four rebounds, while Liwag and Joshua Cajucom chipped in 10 markers apiece.

The Letran-San Beda Finals will tip off on Wednesday.