With the odds still against them, La Salle Greenhills fought tooth and nail against San Beda for 40 minutes. Unfortunately the Red Cubs’ end-game poise and championship experience prevailed as they won 74-73, thus spoiling what could have been another dramatic upset win by the Greenies.
With LSGH ahead by 3, San Beda was able to tie the score and even took a 2-point lead with under a minute left. On the ensuing play, Jon Villaruz, who led the Greenies with 20 points, tied the game at 73 with 40 seconds remaining.
Still tied at 73-all, Red Cub Daryl Nazareno was sent to the foul line with 8 seconds left. Nazareno managed only to split his freethrows but that proved to be enough cushion for them as the Greenies turned the ball over in their last offensive play.
Game 3 of this series will be on Thursday, 2PM at the Fil-Oil Flying V Arena. San Beda only needs one more win to clinch their 19th NCAA Juniors title.
For the Greenies, it’s not over yet. They have shown in the past 2 games that they can hang tough against the heavily-favored Red Cubs. Expect them to bring it all out on Thursday and force a deciding match.
Boxscores:
SBC 74 — Abarcar 21, Tolentino 19, Nazareno 16, Abatayo 8, Tongco 6, Bonsubre 4, Patenio 0, Munsayac 0, Miranda 0, Macapayag 0, Dela Costa 0, Babilonia 0.
LSGH 73 — Villaruz 20, Bonleon 13, Torres 10, Barrera 8, Paras 8, Ramilo 4, Marcial 4, Yap 4, Vito 2, Sta. Clara 0, Laigo 0.
Quarterscores: 18-19;33-38;61-58;74-73