We had problems in our first three games in the second round and I’m really happy that the boys responded well today

DONALD Tankoua and San Beda regain their killer instinct following a dominant win over San Sebastian. joaquin flores

San Beda University displayed its old fire, old prowess as it clobbered San Sebastian College, 91-76, in Season 95 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

James Canlas and Donald Tankoua carried the fight for the Red Lions, who are looking for one massive win to silence the critics and junk the talks that they have peaked too early after racing to 13 straight victories in the oldest collegiate basketball league in the country.

With the win, the Red Lions are now back in the Final Four for the 14th consecutive season or since 2006.

Meanwhile, Fran Yu delivered a career-high 19 points as Letran College crushed College of Saint Benilde, 87-74, in the second game.

The Knights now moved to solo third with a 9-4 win-loss card while dealing the Blazers their second straight loss in the second round.

Canlas delivered 20 points on an impressive 70 percent from the field and 67 percent from the three-point territory to go with four rebounds and five assists while Tankoua fired 18 markers with seven rebounds.

San Beda coach Boyet Fernandez admitted that he was worried over their slow start in the second round after they flirted with disaster before overcoming rebuilding teams like Emilio Aguinaldo College, Arellano University and Jose Rizal University.

But with this impressive win, all questions were answered and the morale of his wards went back to normal, giving them the confidence to go for the sweep entering the final five games of the double-round eliminations.

“I salute my players for this,” said Fernandez, who is accounted for four of the Red Lions’ 44 NCAA men’s basketball crowns.

“We had problems in our first three games in the second round and I’m really happy that the boys responded well today.”

Despite nearing a sweep of the eliminations, Fernandez stressed that he’s making sure that they would remain humble and hungry in achieving their goal of emerging with another three-peat.

“I’m making sure that they understand that we’re not invincible,” he said.

“Other teams are looking to defeat us in every game and they probably exceed their efforts because they are playing against San Beda.”

“We should not be over-confident and keep our feet on the ground while doing the hard work.”

The last time the Red Lions suffered a setback was on 12 August of last year when it dropped a 73-66 decision to Lyceum of the Philippines University.

Since then, San Beda was invincible, winning all of its matches, including a best-of-three finals series against the Pirates.

Still, Fernandez doesn’t want that achievement to get into their heads.

“I’m always looking for the possibility of eventually losing,” he said. “But we’re always making sure that we’re on top of our game.”

After erecting the game’s biggest lead in the second quarter, 35-17, the Red Lions watched as the Golden Stags tried to mount a comeback, reducing it to as low as seven points, 62-69, late in the third canto.

The Red Lions dropped a searing 21-9 rally to put the game away, dealing the Stags their fifth loss in 12 matches.

RK Ilagan had 16 points and three rebounds while Allyn Bulanadi chipped in 14 markers for San Sebastian, which is looking to sweep its remaining elimination-round matches to pocket a Final Four berth.