THE SAN Beda Red Lions claimed the country’s most prestigious preseason title after they dished out a 79-53 rout of the reigning champions La Salle Green Archers in the finals of the 2015 Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup yesterday at the Arena in San Juan.
What was expected to be a nip-and-tuck affair turned out to be a lopsided one in favor of the Red Lions, who served vengeance upon the very same Archers squad that beat them in the finals of the same competition last year.
Ryusei Koga stepped up big time in the absence of lead guard Baser Amer, who is in Singapore playing with the Gilas Cadets squad, and scored 18 markers while Pierre Tankoua added 12. Ola Adeogun chipped in 11 while Art dela Cruz contributed 10.
The Red Lions actually stumbled at the start and made a measly eight points to trail, 8-13. But they finally found their rhythm in the ensuing canto as they blasted the Archers, 24-8, to open up a 32-21 lead before settling for a 32-26 advantage at halftime.
San Beda piled on the pressure in the third and continued their onslaught and went ahead, 59-37, after blowing out the suddenly rudderless Archers, 27-11, in that stretch.
Jeron Teng finished with 21 points for La Salle, while rookie Andrie Caracut added 10.
Meanwhile, the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers snatched the third place trophy with a thrilling 71-69 win over the Far Eastern University Tamaraws.
Tey Teodoro led the way with 23 points capped by a game-winning runner.