MANILA -- San Beda barged its way to the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) semifinals after ousting University of Santo Tomas, 77-68, in the final day of the PCCL NCAA-UAAP Challenge at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City on Saturday.
The Red Lions snuffed the Growling Tigers in the first half, holding them to just 27 points, while they slowly picked things up offensively, opening a lead as high as 17, 65-48, early in the fourth quarter.
UST got back into the game and was just down by five, 62-67, with 4:27 remaining, but that was all the team can draw near to as San Beda pulled away again with the deciding 10-3 rally to ice the win.
James Kwekuteye put up 14 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and for steals to lead the Red Lions, who joined the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the UP Fighting Maroons in the Final Four.
Ateneo, which booked its place in the Final Four on Sunday, completed the sweep of the single round robin NCAA-UAAP Challenge by romping Letran, 79-61, in the champion versus champion match-up in the second game.
The Blue Eagles recovered from a slow start and blasted the Knights in the third quarter, 30-4, to pull away for good.
Dwight Ramos and Troy Mallillin each scored 16 for Ateneo.
On the other hand, UP booked its place to the national semifinals by ruling the Luzon regional championship earlier in the week in Naga.
The last seat in the PCCL Final Four will only be disputed in early March as the Visayas-Mindanao regionals, now known as the Escandor Cup, was postponed to March 1 due to the novel coronavirus. (PNA)
