Sizzling start

San Beda University and Letran College could face off for the championship soon after winning the first game of their respective series Tuesday in Season 101 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Knights slipped past University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, 77-73, in the first semifinal duel while the Red Lions crushed last year’s finalist College of Saint Benilde, 91-72, in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.

One more win for both squads on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena will set them up for a title match for the first time since 2019.

A jumper from Janti Miller with 8:03 remaining in the second quarter punctuated an 8-0 run in the second quarter and turned their slim 22-19 lead into a 30-19 advantage and stayed in front for the rest of the game.

Miller, one of the contenders for both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors, even gave the Lions their biggest lead of the game at 23 points, 83-60, after a triple with 4:35 left in the fourth quarter.

“We told them to get rebounds. We gave away offensive rebounds in the first quarter. We needed to do a better job boxing out and contesting rebounds,” said Escueta, who was able to get 33 defensive boards from his squad.

“It is really a challenge playing against teams this strong. You have to put maximum effort because you have to guard the paint against (Shawn) Umali and (Allen) Liwag and if you send help, their shooters will be open.”

Miller led the San Beda with 29 points and nine rebounds while Bryan Sajonia dropped 26 points.

Ian Torres, on the other hand, led Saint Benilde with 18 points.

While the Lions dominated the Blazers, Letran had to go down the wire to get the job done.

The Knights were enjoying a 72-60 lead with 4:32 left in the fourth quarter when Patrick Sleat struck hard and ignited an 8-0 for Perpetual to cut the lead to four points.

Leading 75-71 with 13 seconds left in the game, Estrada calmly sank two free throws to ice the game for Letran.

“We told the boys not to relax because we expected them to come back in the second half and that’s what happened. Our big men even got foul trouble so we got small and had trouble sustaining our defense,” Letran coach Allen Ricardo said.

Jonathan Manalili and Estrada led the Knights with 15 points each as they are a win away from returning to the finals after completing a three-peat in 2022.

Chad Gammad had 11 points for Letran while Deo Cuajao had six points.

Sleat had 21 points for the Altas in a losing effort as they are on the verge of getting eliminated along with John Abis, who had 20 points and nine boards.