MVP Amer tows Red Cubs to verge of NCAA jr crown

What was expected to be a tight and exciting encounter turned out to be a rout for the favored San Beda Red Cubs. Behind tournament Most Valuable Player Baser Amer and Von Chavez, the Red Cubs ran roughshod over the Staglets and hammered out a convincing 89-64 win to take a headstart in the NCAA junior’s basketball best-of-three finals series Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum. Amer, who received the most coveted individual honor before the start of the match, didn’t only make a tremendous individual impact on the court. He also made his teammates look good. Considered as one of the best high school players today, Amer dished out a season-high 18 assists on top of scoring a game-high 21 points. The Red Cubs can close out the series and clinch the crown with another win over the Staglets on Friday. But Brit Reroma, who succeeded long-time Red Cubs coach Ato Badolato this season, is wary of San Sebastian, especially with the Staglets expected to play all-out to stay alive. "We have to play consistently for 40 minutes, and knowing San Sebastian, a team which won a four-peat, we can't relax," said Reroma, a former San Beda Lion. San Beda and San Sebastian split their season encounters with the Staglets inflicting the Red Cubs' lone defeat — a 76-75 overtime thriller at the close of the elimination round. The Red Cubs, who went 14-2 during the elims, lost another game due to forfeiture after Amer wore a wrong shade of uniform. Aside from Chavez and Amer, three more players finished in double figures for San Beda — Adam Abatayo and Chris Javier, who posted double-double performances, and Daryl Nazareno. Abatayo had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Javier tallied 13 points and 17 boards, and Nazareno contributed 13 markers. Most of their baskets came from way of baskets from Amer, who went a rebound short of posting a triple double. Amer also had five steals. Amer already dished out a total of 14 assists by halftime. San Beda leaned on a 15-0 blast to turn a 5-7 deficit to a 20-7 lead with barely two minutes left in the first. The Red Cubs closed out the period ahead, 27-11, on a buzzer-beating triple by Dominic Nazareno. From there, Amer made his presence felt. He dazzled the crowd in the third period when he completed a hang-time move against the defense of Gino Jumao-as, giving San Beda a 53-36 lead. Amer’s basket with 5:27 to go gave San Beda its biggest lead of the game, 84-58. "We told him that he should play his normal game since the pressure of winning the MVP isn't there anymore," said Reroma. Gumao-as, who was named to the Mythical Five, led the Staglets with 31 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Mark Magno tallied 19 points and nine boards. - KY, RCJ, GMANews.TV