RC Calimag was steady from the line down the stretch as he drained four crucial free throws late to lift San Beda past Emilio Aguinaldo College, 89-86, and return to winning ways in the NCAA Season 102 men’s tournament, Monday at the Filoil Center in San Juan.
The Red Lions had to fend off a dizzying 12-0 run by the Generals which saw the boys of coach Jerson Cabiltes take an 86-85 lead after a Joseph Nunag basket with 1:16 remaining in the game.
It looked like the Generals would march on to the win following an Aldous Torculas turnover on the other end, but a crazy sequence which had EAC turn it over, get the ball and turn it over again would result into Calimag getting a disruptive foul from EJ Castillo which resulted into the aforementioned free throws.
"We knew that coming in, that EAC is gonna play hard. They're coming off that CSB game where they were down by 17 and still they were able to win," San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta said.
"We were up by 10, they didn't give up. They played hard. EAC's a tough team. They forced 25 turnovers from us, and they were able to score 27 turnover points. That's how tough EAC is," he added.
The Red Lions looked like it was ready to cruise to its sixth win in nine tries when Aldous Torculas drained a three-pointer with 7:04 remaining in the fourth to give San Beda an 85-74 lead.
That would turn out to be the Red Lions' final field-goal as EAC would respond with a 12-0 rally which culminated in that Nunag basket and one of the craziest finishes in this year's tournament.
All the Generals had to do was bring the ball down, get fouled and extend the lead to three but that wasn't meant to be as Bismark Lina tapped the ball away from Kyle Ochavo resulting into a Calimag steal.
Calimag would subsequently lose possession to MJ Raymundo, but he didn't give up on the play, hounded Raymundo and got the ball back resulting to Castillo's disruptive foul — which meant two free throws a possession for the Red Lions.
Calimag sank the go-ahead free throws before adding two in the next possession to give the Red Lions a three-point cushion with four seconds left.
MJ Raymundo had a last ditch attempt to send the game into overtime but it just wasn't meant to bea.
"Breaks of the game in the end, but we were able to make this to the players, winning plays to the end. Crucial tap by Bis (Lina), crucial free throws by RC and of course that crucial by Zane (Jalbuena) in the end," Escueta said.
"That's all we had to do. Be able to make winning plays. Our two losses came from one point basket, and all we had to do was make winning plays."
Torculas led the Red Lions with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Calimag finished with 11 points.
Bonzi Bonzalida added 12 points and eight boards while Jimmy Reyes also chipped in 11 points and three assists for the now 6-3 Red Lions.
Castillo led the Generals with 19 points and two steals while MJ Raymundo chipped in 17 and eight rebounds in the loss.
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