San Beda University banked on James Payosing and Jomel Puno in pulling off a crucial 83-70 victory over Jose Rizal University in the NCAA Season 100 on Tuesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
The Red Lions, who were coming off a tough loss to Mapua University, improved to 9-5 to bolster their Final Four hopes even if stars Bryan Sajonia and Bismarck Lina were out in the game with the former nursing a foot injury while the latter was serving a one-game suspension.
Payosing came off the bench and put together a season-high of 18 points spiked with six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block while Puno posted a double-double of 17 markers and 12 boards.
The Heavy Bombers, on the other hand, slipped to 4-10.
"Of course it’s always nice to come up with a win after a loss," San Beda coach Yuri Escueta said.
"You would know how your team would react coming off defeats eh so sabi ko nga, let’s just take care of our business and do our jobs."
San Beda went on a rampage in the second quarter, pouring in 29 points to create a 46-31 halftime separation with Payosing and Puno both firing 11 points in that stretch.
The Heavy Bombers would still put up a fight, but the Red Lions flaunted their depth with the likes of rookie JC Bonzalida and Emman Tagle helping them unleash the finishing blow.
Bonzalida, whose buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the third sent San Beda to a 69-53 lead, converted another basket to give the defending champions a 74-55 cushion early in the fourth before a huge Tagle triple saw them enjoying a 79-61 advantage with still 4:07 to go.
JRU, who was fresh off a 90-86 upset win over Colegio de San Juan de Letran, tried to make a last-ditch rally behind Joshua Guiab but the veteran bruiser had no help down the stretch as San Beda took the victory.
Shawn Argente and Guiab starred for JRU in the losing cause, churning out 16 and 13 points apiece while Raymundo chipped in nine markers.
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—JMB, GMA Integrated News
