Ola Adeogun of Nigeria pounded Emilio Aguinaldo College in the absence of chief rival Noube Happi of Cameroon as San Beda hacked out a 96-80 victory on Monday that sent it closer to booking a ninth straight Final Four stint in the 90th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
Adeogun exploded with 25 points and added 12 rebounds in just 18 minutes to carry the Lions to their 11th win against two defeats.
Two more triumphs will ensure San Beda, winner of a four-peat and seven of the last eight, at least a playoff for a Final Four spot while three wins will book it place there for the ninth year in row.
"What can I say, congratulations Ola (Adeogun)," said San Beda coach Boyet Fernandez
Adeogun shone the brightest in the second half when he unleashed 20 of his total there including a 12-point effort spanning just five minutes in the third quarter.
While it was the Lagos, Nigeria native who stepped up late in the game, Baser Amer and Arthur dela Cruz took charge in the first half where they combined 26 points in the first half when San Beda made its first move.
Amer finished with 18 points including four booming triples while dela Cruz wound up with 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
And it helped that the 6-7 Happi missed another game due to a back injury.
"The absence of Happi gives us one less problem so it really helped us that he didn't play in this game," said Fernandez.
The Generals, led by John Tayongtong's 14 points, absorbed their 10th defeat against three wins and were eliminated.
In the second game, Kevin Racal scored 20 points while Mark Cruz added 17 as Letran nipped San Sebastian, 75-73.
The Knights improved to 6-7 while sending the Stags to last place at 3-11. — Photos by KC Cruz
The Scores:
First Game:
San Beda (96) -- Adeogun 25, Amer 18, Dela Cruz 14, Cabañag 7, Pascual 7, A. Semerad 6, Mendoza 4, Mocon 4, Abude 3, Tongco 3, Sorela 3, Koga 2, Sara 0, Abatayo 0, D. Semerad 0.
EAC (80) -- Tayongtong 14, Mejos 13, Jamon 13, Saludo 12, Onwubere 9, Arquero 9, Serrano 7, General 3.
Quarters: 17-12, 40-27, 71-46, 96-80.
Second Game:
Letran 75- Racal 20, Cruz 17, Tambeling 13, Gabawan 9, Publico 6, Nambatac 5, Saldua 3, Ruaya 2, Calvo 0, Dela Pena 0, Quinto 0, Singontiko 0
San Sebastian 73 - Perez 22, Dela Cruz 16, Guinto 16, Balucanag 6, Yong 6, Pretta 3, Ortuoste 2, Santos 2, Calisaan 0, Fabian 0, Costelo 0
Quarters: 20-24; 39-31; 68-54; 75-73
