Lions shoot for solo lead

**Admin Magic Man13** Mon Aug 01, 2011 1:26 am

MANILA, Philippines - San Beda shoots for the solo lead while Letran seeks to close in on the pacesetters as they renew their rivalry today in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

“We’re expecting no less than a battle, a war,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim, who has lost only once in 10 games against Letran counterpart Louie Alas since taking over the coaching job from Koy Banal in 2007.

The unbeaten Lions share the lead with the San Sebastian Stags with five victories and are slightly fancied over the 4-1 Knights in the 4 p.m. encounter.

San Beda is also looking to extend its win streak to 24, including a historic 18-game sweep of last season’s crown while eyeing an 11th straight victory over Letran stretching five seasons.

The Lions’ last lost to the Knights on July 25, 2007 when former Smart Gilas Pilipinas standout Rey Guevarra dunked over Nigerian Sam Ekwe in a stunning 70-69 decision before they strung up 10 wins in row.

The Letran-San Beda showdown is also a duel of the league’s most titled teams with the Muralla-based squad owning 16 titles and the Mendiola-based team boasting of 15 championships.

Alas, however, downplays his team’s chances against the streaking Lions.

“Our goal is to get a win although we’re the underdogs against them,” said Alas.

Mapua, which snapped a four-game skid with an 80-63 rout of Emilio Aguinaldo College last week, takes on Arellano U at 2 p.m.

“We just hope to sustain the momentum of our win but we also need to work as hard as we did when we got that win,” said Mapua mentor Chito Victolero.

Alas said he expects their game against San Beda to be decided in the frontcourt.

“Even though they’re not playing with Sudan Daniel, San Beda still has the strongest frontcourt,” said Alas referring to San Beda’s Dave Marcelo, Jake Pascual, Kyle Pascual and Fil-Aussie twins Anthony and David Semerad.

“Now if our big men could at least compete against their counterparts, we’ll have a strong chance to beat them,” he said.