Red Lions king of NCAA men's caging; tie Letran's 16 titles

First, it was Mar Villahermosa. This time, another reserve player in David Semerad stepped up for San Beda. An unlikely man in Semerad scored the Red Lions' final five points of the game to push San Beda to its second consecutive title with a 57-55 win over San Sebastian Wednesday to sweep the 87th NCAA men's basketball championship series at the Araneta Coliseum. Semerad stepped up big time nailing the title-clinching basket—a short stab off a Garvo Lanete assist—as the Frankie Lim-mentored squad took a four-point lead, 57-53, with 53.6 seconds left. Lanete drove to the basket and found Semerad waiting inside to score over season Most Valuable Player (MVP) Calvin Abueva. Jovit Dela Cruz scored on a jumper with 37.6 ticks remaining but Ronald Pascual capped off his struggles from the three-point area with an airball that would have given the Golden Stags the lead. The ball sailed out and with 2.6 seconds left, San Beda's celebration began. San Sebastian just let the clock to run out on the next possession and the San Beda players stormed to the floor. With Lanete still not in game shape due to a fever and Jake Pascual saddled with foul troubles, the second stringers picked up the slack. Anjo Caram tallied 10 points, Villahermosa, the Game One hero with 15, and rookie Baser Amer combined for 15 markers in Game Two. Dave Marcelo, who grabbed 16 rebounds in Game Two, capped his eight-year stint with San Beda with the finals Most Valuable Player award. He averaged 8.5 points, 13.5 caroms and one block in the two games he played in the title series. "It's called a team effort," said Lim, the hands down choice for the Coach of the Year award this season. "One of our brothers was struggling so someone picked up the slack. For me, it's perfect. They responded to the challenge." The Red Lions' dynasty continued as they won their second consecutive title and five in the last six seasons. Normally, it's Anthony Semerad who is more offensive minded between the Semerad twins. But it was David who did most of the damage as he managed to score against Abueva's defense in the second half. "He (David Semerad) responded very well. He made shots from the side and grabbed crucial rebounds. More importantly, he held his own against Abueva," said Lim, who won his fourth overall crown. Ian Sangalang's inside shot made it 52-50 but that was the last time San Sebastian had the lead. Lanete tied the game with his only basket while David Semerad sank a jumper to take the upper hand. The Red Lions, who missed big man Sudan Daniels the entire season, trailed the Golden Stags most of the game but grabbed the lead midway in the fourth, 55-52, and never looked back. Abueva was called for a flagrant foul for headbutting David Semerad in the jaw that led to a free throw with five minutes and 53 seconds left for a 55-52 San Beda lead. Both teams exchanged misses for nearly four minutes. Abueva nailed his first free throw after Lanete fouled him with 1:20 left in the game. Pascual tried to tie the game when Abueva missed the second charity but his putback was swatted away by Marcelo on what San Sebastian coaching staff thought should be a goaltending violation. Pascual had 15 points and hit five three-point shots in the first half but was scoreless in the last two quarters. He finished with 5-of-13 shooting from behind the arc. Sangalang racked up 13 markers and eight rebounds while Abueva added 12 points, 13 boards and five assists. Pascual connected on back-to-back triples to give San Sebastian a 30-24 advantage en route to a 32-27 halftime lead. An Anthony Del Rio basket upped San Sebastian's lead to eight, 48-40, but San Beda closed the third with an 8-2 run to stay in the game, 50-48. It was a sorry defeat for the Stags, who began the season with a 15-0 record only to lose the title after dropping five of their last six games. — Reuben Terrado/Lian Buan/Renee Fopalan/OMG/JVP/HS, GMA News