Triangle Offense

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s Sudan!

In the much anticipated rematch of last year’s finalists,  the three time defending champion San Beda Red Lions dominated the Jose Rizal Heavy Bombers down the stretch to grab the solo second place with an impressive 96-81 triumph in the 85th season of the NCAA.

MVP candidate Sudan “Superman” Daniel delivered the goods for the Lions  the entire game. He fired 31 big points to fuel Beda’s inside attack as he pounded  The Bombers’ defense by scoring at will in the paint.

The game, as expected, went toe to toe in the majority of the first half  but as Daniel entered the game, the Lions quickly gained the upper hand to lead by eight at the half.

Meanwhile, after a lackluster first half, the Bombers stormed right back in the third with a telling run all the way to the early stages of the final canto. They even went on to grab a brief two-point lead early in the fourth. Unfortunately, they lost steam as there game went downhill as they let the Lions make run of their own- anchored by who else but, ‘Superman’- to finally put the game out of reach.

San Beda dominated the last eight minutes of the game and left no doubt to their supporters that they can still defend the title.

Sudan was just too much for the Bombers that every time he catches the ball down low, you what will happen, it’s all automatic. It’s all about the inside scoring of  Daniel. That’s the story of the game.

Triangle Offense predicted a close Beda win (I predicted it by five) but surprisingly they won by 15. They executed their game plan to perfection and most importantly they contained JRU’s leading scorer in John Wilson.

James Sena, Mark Cagoco, and Marvin Hayes all had decent games but the Bombers just couldn’t solve San Beda’s running game. They looked puzzled on how the Sudan show worked his way on the inside.

The Lions now occupies solo second behind league leading Stags with an 8-1 card as the Bombers fell to third at 7-2.

With this statement game for the Lions, they proved something to their critics—–they are looking FOURward. (ETA: I’m so sorry The Sports Minded, but it’s going to be San Sebastian’s year! :P –KC13)

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In the first game, Mapua surprisingly gave undefeated San Sebastian a run for their money. Many people thought the Stags would just walk through with this one but the Cardinals gave them all they can handle. That being said, the Stags still found a way to hold on for 77-74 win to remain unbeaten with an 8-0 slate.

Baste relied on usual suspect and scoring machine Jimbo Aquino in crunch time who dropped 22 points including a clutch jumper with over a minute left to push their lead to three.

Triangle Offense predicted a massacre for the Stags (I predicted Stags by 16) but the Cards instead showed up to fight.

The Stags will end their first round of play against the capable Letran Knights on Friday as they look to sweep the first round and avoid a first place tie with San Beda.