THE men’s basketball for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Season 93 drew to a close last Thursday with a familiar face in the San Beda Red Lions on top. It is a direct result, they said, of the sacrifice they made all season long and the firm belief that if they stuck to their system and played to their potential, especially on defense, they will be hard to stop.

Taking Game Two of their best-of-three NCAA finals with the Lyceum Pirates, 92-82, the Lions completed a sweep of the championship affair over a team which ironically swept the elimination round and got a direct pass to the title series.

San Beda showed tremendous resolve in Game Two to stay the course despite their struggles early and paraded their championship experience down the stretch to claim its 10th title in 12 years in the NCAA and 21st men’s crown all time, the most in league history.

Robert Bolick led the Lions in the championship-clinching victory with 18 points, including a big three-pointer with less than a minute to play that all but sealed the win for them, to go along with five rebounds and six assists.

Foreign player Donald Tankoua continued with his solid play in the championship, finishing with a double-double of 17 points and 17 rebounds. He was named finals most valuable player later.

Graduating and pro-bound Davon Potts had 15 points in his final NCAA game while AC Soberano and Javee Mocon had 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Seeing how his players worked hard and stay committed to what they were trying to achieve all season long, Lions coach Boyet Fernandez gave much credit to his wards for their latest achievement.

“This championship would not have happened if not for my players. They deserve to win this because they really worked hard for it,” the coach said following their championship celebration on the floor of the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“They sacrificed for 11 months and we know throughout the course of the season there were people who doubted us but this team never doubted itself. We know we did not sweep but at the end of the day what was important was winning the championship and we did it through defense. Defense always wins over offense,” Mr. Fernandez added.

The coach went on to say that the fact that the transition did not come easy for him personally, the championship made it all the more special.

“The adjustment was tough for me because they were previously handled by a good coach in Jamike Jarin and we were to defend a title. It was a different team, different system. We made tweaks along the way and thankfully it worked for us,” said Mr. Fernandez, who has now won three titles for San Beda – 2013, 2014 and 2017. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

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