SAN Beda refused to bow out of the NCAA Season 97 seniors basketball tournament, extending its Final Four against Mapua to a decider after a 73-67 overtime win on Sunday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
James Kwekuteye endured a sprained ankle and fired 17 points to go with two rebounds as the Red Lions lived to fight another day in one rare occasion when they had to overcome twice-to-win disadvantage in the playoffs.
Game Two is on Wednesday.
[See Letran marches on to NCAA Finals unbeaten]
Mapua missed a golden chance to put the game away as Brian Lacap could only muster a split in the last 8.4 seconds of regulation. That led to JV Gallego throwing a full-court pass to Kwekuteye with Ralph Penuela scoring on a clean-up job to tie the game at 60 with 2.8 ticks to spare.
Warren Bonifacio's desperation jumper failed to find the bottom of the net as the semifinal face-off went to five extra minutes.
San Beda were just too disciplined in the extra frame, scoring seven unanswered points from a 64-all deadlock to erect a 71-64 advantage with 1:25 left.
Penuela came through late for the Red Lions as he uncorked 13 points, two rebounds, and one block after a scoreless first quarter, while Jacob Cortez also stepped up with 13 points and two boards in the win.
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