17/12/2023
SAN Beda University on Sunday banked on a steely resolve to hold off a determined Mapua University and clinch its first NCAA men's basketball championship since 2018.
The Red Lions dispatched the Cardinals, 76-66, in the deciding Game 3 of the finals series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Overcoming a 0-1 series disadvantage and eight do-or-die games in Season 99, San Beda notched its 23rd men's basketball title in the country's oldest collegiate league.
It also avenged its defeat to Mapua in the 1991 finals.
"Of course, I'm happy, [and] at the same time, I'm very happy for my players. These are the guys who stayed, and they said to themselves, 'This is us; we're going to work hard for this.' We've worked for this since January," said Red Lions head coach Yuri Escueta.
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"We joined the D-League, we went to Malaysia, and even in Davao, we couldn't beat the teams there, so this team went through so much. In the second round, we were struggling, but these guys said to themselves that we have to be resilient."
Before a huge crowd of 23,077 fans, the Red Lions got off to a 17-9 start and led by as many as nine in the first half, 24-15, before the Cardinals clawed back and turned the game into a nip-and-tuck contest.
Mapua closed out the third quarter with a 57-53 lead and was still ahead 61-58 following a Jc Recto bucket two minutes into the fourth quarter.
Yukien Andrada, James Payosing and Jacob Cortez then got their game going, anchoring the Red Lions' 16-5 fightback that was capped by Oliver Tagle's two free throws in the last 15.2 seconds.
Andrada finished with 20 points built around five treys, two of which he nailed in San Beda's back-breaking run. He added six rebounds and two steals to his name.
Payosing, the Finals MVP, laid it all on the line and turned in 11 points and 14 huge rebounds, with two assists for good measure.
Nygel Gonzales chipped in 10 points and three rebounds as Cortez racked up eight points and eight assists.
Recto had 18 points, 14 boards, and three assists to pace the Cardinals, who failed to end their 32-year-title drought.
The last championship was in 1991 when they defeated the Red Lions.
Season MVP Clint Escamis logged 13 points but shot a miserable 4-of-22 from the field. He tried to help in other departments, delivering five rebounds and four assists.
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SAN Beda University on Sunday banked on a steely resolve to hold off a determined Mapua University and clinch its first NCAA men's basketball championship since 2018.
