| NCAA Finals Game 2 Preview NCAA Press Release, Sat, Oct 24, 2009 Games today (Araneta Coliseum) 2 p.m.- San Beda vs Letran (jrs) 4 p.m.- San Beda vs San Sebastian (srs) San Sebastian goes for the jugular while reigning three-peat champion San Beda seeks the equalizer as the two collide today in Game Two of their best-of-three showdown for the 85th NCAA basketball crown before an expected bigger crowd at the Araneta Coliseum. Drawing strength from the uncanny pair of skipper Jimbo Aquino and rookie Calvin Abueva, the Stags snatched Game One, 72-68, in double overtime to inch closer to copping their first title in seven seasons and 12th overall, two behind the Lions and the Ateneo Eagles and four behind the Letran Knights. The sweet shooting Aquino fired 24 points including four in second OT while Calvin Abueva added 10 points he laced with his season and personal high 23 rebounds, five blocks and three assists to power the Stags to a 1-0 series lead. San Sebastian could wrap it up with another win in their 4 p.m. duel today. A decider, if necessary, is on Thursday at the same venue. “We’re coming off a big win and we have high morale, we need to capitalize on this,” said San Sebastian coach Ato Agustin, who seeking to become the first coach to steer his team to the title on his rookie season since counterpart Frankie Lim did the trick two years back. In juniors’ action, San Beda tries to wrap things up as it shoots for a sweep of Letran in their own title showdown slated 2 p.m. Paced by their two-headed dragon backcourt of Baser Amer and Roland Sara, the Cubs smashed the Squires, 98-75, in the opener to send the school closer to clinching their 17th title, or one closer to the Mapua Red Robins’ league best 18 crowns. San Beda coach Ato Badolato, however, said they can’t take the Squires for granted. “I expect them to adjust and bounce back strong in Game Two, we have to be ready,” said Badolato, who is coaching his last season since taking over 37 years ago and steering the Cubs to 15 championships to concentrate on his job as athletic director. For the Lions, there would be a Game Three. “We’re looking to bounce back tomorrow (today), try to extend the series and make proper adjustments,” said San Beda mentor Frankie Lim. Lim, however, stressed they need to shoot well and rebound more for the Lions to have a chance of tying the series and arranging the winner-take-all game. In the series opener, San Sebastian forced San Beda to miss 64 of its 88 shots while dominating the battle of the boards, 73-64. The Stags actually shot worse after it muffed 68 of the 91 shots they attempted but made up for by plucking 32 offensive caroms against merely 24 by the Lions. “We intend to make better with our shots, bottom line we missed many easy shots. We also got beaten by the boards, we cannot allow them to get 32 offensive rebounds,” said Lim. “I personally thought we didn’t play well. Our execution was not great, we didn’t make our shots but still they had to go to two overtimes to beat us. “We came back and we came back. Some of our guys were in foul trouble. It boils down to making the important shots, which we didn’t deliver towards the end of the game,” he added. Lim said the only upside about their Game One defeat, the Stags had a hard time snaring the win even though the Lions played subpar. “If there’s something good about it, we didn’t play that well but they had a hard time beating us,” he said. “The morale is very high in practice, we’ll push this to Game Three, we’ll come out strong tomorrow,” he added. |
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