SAN BEDA officially became the second entrant to the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball semifinals on Thursday at San Juan Arena after routing Lyceum, 91-67.

Backed with a twice-to-beat advantage as the first seed of Group B, the Red Lions effectively took care of a tired Pirates squad, which had to compete in a play-in for fourth game two days ago.

“I’m very pleased with how the team played, especially defensively and how we got to the rebounds today,” coach Yuri Escueta said.

“You can really see how they bought in [to the system]. It’s all about locking in defensively and dominating the boards,” he added.

Aside from giving the Pirates hell on defense—the Lions limited Lyceum to a lowly 35.7 field goal shooting clip as a team—San Beda also dominated the paint.

Compared to the Pirates’ 32 boards, the Red Lions snagged 59 rebounds as a team, 18 of them being offensive boards.

Yukien Andrada let the offense flow for San Beda with 20 points while Agjanti Miller scored 18 in the win. Bismarck Lina was one of the swingmen who made his mark in the paint with a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds.

John Barba played his last game in the NCAA and finished with 13 points, four assists and two rebounds. Renz Villegas also scored 11 but to no avail as the Pirates ended their season with a 3-11 record.

San Beda will be watching the Season 100 Finals rematch intently between College of St. Benilde and defending champion Mapua tomorrow at San Juan Arena.

According to Escueta, though, whether it’s the Cardinals or the Blazers, the Red Lions will continue to stay the course and control what they can control.

“Sabi ko nga, whoever we play, we have a goal in mind. Whether it’s Benilde or Mapua we just have to be ready and prepare properly.”

The scores:

SAN BEDA (91)  – Andrada 20, Miller 18, Lina 15, Sajonia 13, Gonzales 4, Celzo 4, Reyes 4, Calimag 4, Etulle 3, Songcuya 3, Jamora 3, Estacio 0, Culdora 0, Bonzalida 0, Jalbuena 0

LYCEUM (67) – Barba 13, Villegas 11, Moralejo 8, Versoza 8, Daileg 7, Montaño 5, Peñafiel 5, Aviles 4, Abregana 3, Paulo 3, Casiño 0, Pallingayan 0, Matienzo 0, Aurigue 0, Gordon 0

Quarter scores: 17-10, 51-40, 73-51, 91-67