San Beda Red Lions rip Mapua Cardinals to shreds, wins 16th straight

The San Beda Red Lions kept their perfect record intact as they scored an 83-55 thumping of the Mapua Cardinals in the NCAA Season 95 seniors basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan on Friday afternoon.

The win locked up the top seed in the Final Four for the Red Lions. However, there may be no more semifinal round for San Beda if it wins its next two games and completes a sweep of the elimination round. The victory also ramped up San Beda’s impressive winning streak to 30 games dating back to the first round of Season 94.

James Canlas steered the Red Lions to the win with a double-double performance of 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and three steals while versatile forward Calvin Oftana made five three-pointers to tally 15 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists. Evan Nelle chipped in 14 points, eight assists, three boards, and two steals.

AC Soberano also produced 12 points for San Beda.

San Beda turned the tide emphatically in their favor in the third as they outscored Mapua, 21-9 to take a commanding 59-37 lead heading into the fourth stanza. The Red Lions poured it on in the fourth as they brought their lead to a high of 28 points and eventually hand Mapua its eighth loss in 15 games.

Noah Lugo paced Mapua with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists

The Scores:

SAN BEDA (83) Canlas 16, Oftana 15, Nelle 14, Tankoua 12, Alfaro 5, Abuda 4, Carino 4, Cuntapay 4, Noah 3, Bahio 0, Visser 0, Etrata 0, Obenza 0.

MAPUA (55) Lugo 14, Serrano 10, Bunag 8, Victoria 6, Nocum 6, Gamboa 4, Garcia 3, Bonifacio 2, Dela Cruz 2, Nieles 0, Salenga 0, Aguirre 0, Jabel 0.

(Image courtesy of San Beda Red Lions Facebook page)