PREPARATIONS are now under way for a huge celebration at the San Beda
College campus tonight in Mendiola.
But the members of the San Beda Red Lions are still in no mood to
party, not until the final score indicates a San Beda victory.
In the end, their fate will depend on how well they have prepared
against the Philippine Christian University Dolphins when Game 2 of
the 82nd National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball
finals begins at 4 p.m. today.
Not even a 71-51 beating of the Dolphins in Game 1 could convince
the Lions, especially coach Koy Banal, that the title is theirs for
the taking.
“All we have to think right now is how to make the possible adjustments
against PCU’s game plan,” replied Banal to questions on how
San Beda will go about disposing of PCU in Game 2.
In Game 1, the Red Lions barely relied on 6’9” Nigerian
Samuel Ekwe when they pulled away by a big margin in the third quarter.
Rather, it was the heads-up plays of John Paul Escobal and Yousif
Aljamal that gave the Red Lions the momentum to break away from a 34-34
standoff and break away for good the rest of the way.
Ekwe simply did his thing in the shaded lane, forcing the Dolphins
to commit turnover after turnover. At the end of the lopsided match,
the Most Valuable Player awardee, the first foreign student to earn
the honor, collected 14 rebounds and six blocks.
“The guy is just amazing. He will do what you ask him to do.
He’s ready to play. He’s ready to lift up the boys,”
added Banal.
Gabby Espinas and Jason Castro led the Dolphins with 16 and 14 points,
respectively, but their efforts fell short as the Dolphins lapsed into
a maze of errors, allowing the Red Lions to break the game wide open
and move a win closer to their first-ever crown in 28 years.
And if the Red Lions do go on to beat the Dolphins, the students,
the alumni and their supporters will have a grand party celebration,
which the Mendiola-based school has not seen in a long, long time—28
years to be exact.
