San Beda University emerged as the No. 1 seed in Group B following a masterful 96-82 conquest of Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) in Season 101 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament yesterday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

Bryan Sajonia waxed hot, firing 26 points with 9-of-13 shooting from the field as the Red Lions were gifted with a twice-to-beat advantage against the winner of the Group B play-in round.

In the first game, Arellano University kept its chances for the top two alive after booking a 74-56 triumph over Lyceum of the Philippines University.

T-Mc Ongotan starred anew, knocking down 24 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks to help the Chiefs intensify their twice-to-beat chances in Group A with a 6-6 record.

San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta said the win is a morale booster for them as they now set their sights on their much-awaited rivalry match with Letran College on Sunday at the same San Juan venue.

“You want to carry that confidence and momentum into the quarterfinals. You don’t want to be sloppy or coming off a defeat,” Escueta said.

“I just told them we were worried about missing shots. What’s important is to focus on defense. I want them to get stops and transition back to defense to create easy scoring opportunities.”

But putting the Generals away wasn’t easy. In fact, the Red Lions had to pull off an uprising in the fourth quarter to dictate the tempo and seal the victory.

Down 69-73 in the payoff period, Sajonia drained a triple in the 9:44 mark to spark an 18-8 run and gave San Beda an 87-81 lead to ice the match.

Yukien Andrada and rookie Janti Miller chipped in 17 points each while Jimmy Reyes had 12 points for San Beda, which improved to 9-3 win-loss record.

Deo Lucero notched 14 points for the Generals, who dropped to fifth place in Group B with a 4-8 slate and are relegated to the play-in round with Jose Rizal University, which has a 6-7 card.