Kwekuteye hits dagger as San Beda escapes CSB (Sabong News)
Author
Reynald I. Magallon
Date
APRIL 26 2022
James Kwekuteye nailed the go-ahead triple as San Beda escaped a gritty College of St. Benilde, 67-63, to get back on the winning track and stay in hunt for one of the top 2 seeds in the NCAA Season 97 on Tuesday, April 26 at the La Salle Green Hills Gym in Mandaluyong.
With the game tied at 63-all, Kwekuteye rose to the occasion and shoved the lead back to the Red Lions with a booming trey off a Ralph Penuela kick-out pass with 52 seconds left to douse a blistering 10-0 rally from the Blazers and pick up their seventh win in eight games.
San Beda hung on to its defense in the ensuing plays as it dodged huge bullets down the stretch including two three-point attempts from Prince Carlos and AJ Benson.
Robi Nayve still had the chance to tie the game after he was clipped by JB Bahio while taking a trey but botched the pressure-packed free throws as San Beda came away with the victory.
“Benilde did a good job today, they came back from 12 or 16 points down, credit to Coach Charles and his staff as well as the players. They didn’t want to give up and they came back and I’m just happy we made that shot with James. We’ll take that shot anytime,” said San Beda head coach Boyet Fernandez.
The Red Lions flaunted their depth anew as seven players scored with at least six points across their names led by Kwekuteye who had a double-double display of 13 points and 10 rebounds. Jacob Cortez, son of PBA great Mike Cortez, also provided the spark off the bench with seven points in his NCAA debut.
Nayve paced the Blazers with 14 points while Ladis Lepalam scored six of his 12 points in the final two minutes to anchor their comeback attempt.
Down by 12, Lepalam scored back-to-back baskets in the post before Benson nailed a triple that cut the lead down to just five, 63-58.
Carlos then sank another long bomb before the Blazers forced a 24-second violation which Lepalam converted into two points to tie the game.
Benilde had the opportunity to take the lead after Kwekuteye was called for an offensive foul but came up dry on their offensive execution setting up the table for Kwekuteye’s clutch triple
With the win, San Beda still has a clear shot at taking the top seed in its final game against Letran but can still slide to the third spot if they drop it and Mapua scores a victory against Lyceum in their game today.
CSB, meanwhile, finished the eliminations with a 5-4 record securing the fourth seed.
The Scores:
SAN BEDA 67 — Kwekuteye 13, Cortez 7, Bahio 6, Penuela 6, Jopia 6, Ynot 6, Cuntapay 6, Cometa 5, Andrada 5, Abuda 4, Gallego 2, Alfaro 1, Amsali 0, Visser 0.
ST. BENILDE 63 — Nayve 14, Lepalam 12, Cullar 10, Gozum 10, Carlos 9, Benson 6, Publico 2, Lim 0, Flores 0, Marcos 0, Sangco 0, Corteza 0, Tateishi 0.
Quarters: 16-13, 37-27, 57-44, 67-63.
