Red Lions post historic 16-game sweep in NCAA

It's a Sweet-16 sweep for San Beda College.

Sudan Daniel and Borgie Hermida made this possible as they towed the Red Lions to a 90-82 win over the defending champion San Sebastian Stags in the 86th NCAA men's basketball tournament on Wednesday at the packed The Arena in San Juan City. San Beda completed a record-setting 16-game sweep of the double-round eliminations to automatically move into the championship round. The other three teams will dispute the last finals berth via a stepladder format in lieu of the usual Final Four match-ups. This means No. 3 Jose Rizal University and No. 4 Mapua will slug it out in a do-or-die encounter for the right to face San Sebastian, the No. 2 finisher in the tournament, in another knockout match. By sweeping the double-round eliminations, the Mendiola-based dribblers will enjoy a thrice-to-beat advantage and will only need to win twice over their finals opponent. Playing an unusual role coming off the bench, Daniel, one of the top candidates for the coveted Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, made his presence felt on both ends of the floor. The 6-foot-7 American slotman registered a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds while punishing San Sebastian at the defensive end, coming away with five blocks as he survived a bruising encounter with San Sebastian's Calvin Abueva, Gilbert Bulawan and Rey Gorospe. For his part, the pro-bound Hermida played the fireman's role as he piled up the points that kept the rallying Stags at bay. The Lions' crafty playmaker finished with 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Garvo Lanete also scored 23 points for San Beda. The Red Lions turned back the Stags' rugged challenge by sticking to their system of getting everyone involved, Despite the momentous feat, San Beda coach Frankie Lim remains cautious while waiting for their finals opponent, knowing that what they worked on for the past four months will be put to waste if they fail to wrest their fourth title in the last five seasons. "We did it," said Lim, whose squad needs to win two times in the finals to bag the crown. "I congratulated the team but I told them that this sweep won't mean anything if we don't win the championship." San Beda will shoot for its 15th overall title when the finals start on October 9. The Red Lions are two championships shy of tying Letran's 16 titles. The last time a team went unbeaten all throughout the eliminations was when San Sebastian went 12-0 in 1997 before completing a five-peat behind eventual MBA and PBA star Rommel Adducul. The Stags posted a 15-game winning run last year but lost its last elimination round game. However, San Sebastian went on to win the crown, keeping San Beda from accomplishing a four-peat. Lim dedicated the victory to the victims of Sunday's grenade explosion outside the De La Salle University campus in Taft Avenue on the final day of the Bar examinations. Many of those hurt were Law graduates of San Beda College. The Stags played sans Ronald Pascual, who was out for most of the second round due to a health problem, as well as backup point guard Raymond Maconocido, who has reportedly quit the team. San Sebastian's ace guard Pamboy Raymundo tallied a career-high 29 points, five rebounds and eight assists. Still, it was not enough for the Stags to force a Final Four as Abueva, who is battling Daniel for the MVP plum, struggled throughout the contest. Abueva finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds but turned the ball over five times and was in foul trouble for most of the game. Jonathan Semira scored 11 points while Bulawan added 10 points and six boards. San Sebastian wound up with a 13-3 record to finish second behind San Beda, and will face the winner of the first stepladder game between JRU and Mapua on October 6. – JVP/KY/RCJ, GMANews.TV