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| Emmanuel Tagle celebrates after scoring for San Beda-Machateam. AsiaBasket |
KUALA LUMPUR—It’s going to be the San Beda-Machateam Red Lions and the Kuala Lumpur Aseel in the Sportsclick AsiaBasket International Championship final after taking down their semifinal opponents on Sunday night at the MABA Stadium here.
In the first semifinal, San Beda-Machateam stunned Harimau Malaysia, 83-72.
In the battle of the big cats, the Red Lions prevailed over the Tigers as a late second-quarter blast set the tone for the outcome.
Harimau Malaysia surged ahead in the first half and opened a 35-19 lead with six and a half minutes left in the second quarter.
However, San Beda-Machateam went on a 22-4 run capped by a buzzer-beating three from Emmanuel Tagle to go up, 41-39, at halftime.
Harimau Malaysia kept in step with San Beda-Machateam and even retook the lead, 51-48, with less than six and a half minutes left in the third quarter.
San Beda-Machateam, however, responded with an 8-0 run to go up for good, 56-51, and even stretched the lead to eight, 63-55, later in the third.
Harimau Malaysia tried one last comeback bid after going on a 9-2 run to end the third and open the fourth to trim the lead down to one, 65-64, with less than nine minutes left.
However, San Beda-Machateam pulled away for good after responding with an 18-2 run for an 83-66 cushion with a little more than five minutes left.
While San Beda-Machateam was held
scoreless from thereon, Harimau Malaysia fizzled in the end as the team only
made six points the rest of the way.
Yukien Andrada led San Beda-Machateam with 23 points, 12 rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Jacob Cortez added 13 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals, while Jomel Puno chipped in 10 points, three rebounds, one assist, and three steals.
Ting Chun Hong led Harimau Malaysia, which was relegated to the battle for third, with 24 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block.
On the other hand, the Aseel set the rematch with the Red Lions for all the marbles this time with a 90-87 squeaker over the College of Saint Benilde CSB Blazers in the second semifinal.
KL survived a late comeback from CSB to deny what could have been an all-NCAA finale.
The Aseel were comfortably ahead, 80-67, with 7:04 remaining, but the Blazers went on a 16-0 run to take an 83-80 lead with two and a half minutes left.
KL answered with an 8-0 run which included Tan Wei Long’s go-ahead three and clutch free throws from Louie Sangalang and Soong Kah An for an 88-83 cushion with 10 seconds left.
The Blazers still gave the Aseel a scare as Migs Oczon converted a four-point play with 4.2 seconds left that cut the lead to just one, 88-87.
Jalen Robinson, who was struggling from the free throw line all game long, made two charities off a quick foul to put KL ahead by three with 3.5 seconds left.
Oczon tried to send the game to overtime, but his highly contested three-pointer only hit the backboard as time expired.
Robinson led the Aseel with 29 points, 21 rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and two steals while bucking an error-prone game where he committed seven turnovers.
Sangalang added 20 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and one block, while Wee Yong Gan put up 15 points, three rebounds, one assist, and two steals.
Miggy Corteza led CSB, which will face Harimau Malaysia in the third-place game, with 24 points, six rebounds, two assists, three blocks, and one steal.
Oczon finished with 18 points, three rebounds, 10 assists, three steals, and one block, Prince Carlos contributed 16 points, six rebounds, six assists, and three steals, and Paul Turco made 15 points, 13 rebounds, two assists, and three steals.
Harimau Malaysia and CSB will first meet on Tuesday night at 5 p.m. in the battle for third before KL and San Beda-Machateam slug it out for the championship at 7:30 p.m.
In between the games, the AsiaBasket will name the All-Tournament Team while the Most Valuable Player will be revealed after the final.
Box Scores:
First Game
San Beda-Machateam 83 – Andrada 23, Cortez 13, Puno 10, Cuntapay 9, Tagle 9, Alfaro 7, Payosing 5, Jopia 4, Cometa 3, Visser 0, Gallego 0, Royo 0
Harimau Malaysia 72 – Ting 24, Mahadevan 10, Kuek 9, Ooi 8, Lee 5, Heng 5, Y. Wong 3, J. Wong 3, Dee 2, Liew 2, Lim 1, Ong 0
Quarterscores: 17-23, 41-39, 65-60, 83-72
Second Game
Kuala Lumpur 90 – Robinson 29, Sangalang 20, Wee 15, W. Tan 9, Gan 8, Soong 7, Yap 2, G. Tan 0, Kwan 0
CSB 87 – Corteza 24, Oczon 18, Carlos 16, Turco 15, Nayve 4, Marcos 2, Marasigan 2, Cajucom 2, Sangco 2, Liwag 2, Jarque 0, Mara 0
Quarterscores: 24-22, 43-39, 72-63, 90-87
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