San Beda sent Arellano U back to earth with a trouble-free 76-53 victory yesterday and stayed unflappable at the Group B helm in NCAA Season 101 at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.
Rookie sensation Aganti Miller sizzled with a team-high 20 points while Jomel Puno chipped in 10 points but it was the bench that stepped up when it mattered and energized the starters.
Most notable of them was Zedjay Etulle, who did almost everything in finishing with eight points, a game-best 13 rebounds, three assists, the same number of steals and a block.
‘I like to commend our second group, they were very big today,’ said San Beda coach Yuri Escueta. ‘They were a huge positive in the first half that it helped challenge the first group to come into the third quarter with a lot of energy.’
The Lions also took away the Chiefs’ vaunted running game with the former’s unrelenting transition defense.
‘This is a team that we lost in the summer twice actually, they’re really very capable,’ said Escueta. ‘We took better shots and also showed effort in speeding back down especially against this team.’
AU dropped to 3-4 in Group A.
In the other game, Jose Rizal U stunned defending champion Mapua, 66-63, to improve to 4-4 in Group B.
A freak accident fall struck JRU’s top player Justin Lozano, who was unconscious when he was sent to the nearest hospital where he eventually regained consciousness hours later.