San Beda’s Adler dela Rosa grabs the ball during a loose ball battle with Letran’s Rey Guevarra during their NCAA game on Friday at The Arena in San Juan. The Red Lions won, 76-64. (Photo by BOB DUNGO JR.)

Games on Monday (The Arena, San Juan)
10 a.m. — EAC vs AU (Jrs)
11:45 a.m. — AUF vs UPHSD (Jrs)
2 p.m. — EAC vs AU (Srs)
4 p.m. — AUF vs UPHSD (Srs)

Defense, at least for this one, proved to be lethal for defending champion San Beda College.

The Red Lions threw Letran’s big guns out of their comfort zones early while getting 18 points from rookie Adler dela Rosa to sweep the Knights, 76-64, in the 85th NCAA basketball tournament on Friday at The Arena in San Juan City.

Dela Rosa scored nine points in the second half to help the Lions scuttle the Knights’ comeback bid as the Red Lions pounced on the hapless Knights, who lost coach Louie Alas to disqualification early in the second quarter.

“We had a good first half (defense-wise) and after that alam ko tapos na yung game,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim, whose squad ripped the game wide apart after a torrid first half, 45-22.

“We’ve got a great first half and we also solved the pressure defense of Letran. We got it into our game early and we never looked back,” he added.

The win hiked the Lions’ record to 15-2 while the loss dropped the Knights to 12-6 for solo fourth.

The Knights started to disintegrate in the first half following the ejection of Alas who was first called for a technical foul after complaining on an unsportsmanlike foul called on Rey Guevarra in the first quarter with San Beda up 16-8.

The veteran mentor was slapped with his second “T” after getting irate on the foul called on his player Aloysis Taplah, who was called for a second motion after Lanete kicked him during a rebound scramble with the Lions still up, 23-14, 40.9 seconds in the second quarter.

Earlier, Mapua extended its winning streak by downing Angeles University Foundation in a fight-marred match, 91-77.

Though it was already a no-bearing game, emotion ran high that led to a bench-clearing incident after AUF's Chuck Gomez elbowed Andretti Steven in a mad scramble for the loose ball with the game already decided in favor of the Cardinals.