Games on Wednesday (The Arena)
11 a.m. — Perpetual vs Jose Rizal (Jrs)
2 p.m. — Letran vs San Beda (Jrs)
4 p.m. — San Sebastian vs San Beda (Srs)

Defense proved to be the best offense anew for defending champion San Beda College.

After trailing for most of the game, the Red Lions held the San Sebastian Stags scoreless in the final minute to score a pulsating 71-67 win on Monday and force a rubber match for the No. 1 spot at the close of the elimination round of the 85th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

With the score tied at 67-67 with 58 ticks to go, the Red Lions put up a huge defensive wall to force the Stags to commit two turnovers to hammer out the win and set another duel for the top spot at 4 p.m. tomorrow with the winner getting a date with No. 4 team Letran in the semifinals.

The Red Lions and the Stags ended the elims with similar 16-2 slates for the two twice-to-beat incentives in the Final 4 while dashing the hopes of Jose Rizal University for a playoff for the No. 2 spot. The Heavy bombers closed out their assignments with a 15-3 card.

The Stags actually held possession at 67-67 but failed to convert as Lion Bam Gamalinda stole the ball from Jimbo Aquino for an easy fastbreak and a 69-67 lead, time down to 33.8 ticks.

SSC coach Ato Agustin called for time in the next play, but the Stags failed to execute their play anew when playmaker John Raymundo slipped on the floor and lost the ball to SBC's Borgie Hermida, who was then fouled by Calvin Abueva for the game’s final charity shots with five seconds left.

First Game (Jrs)
SBC 101 — Gotladera 20, Sara 17, Dela Cruz 15, Amer 12, Ludovice 13, Abatayo 9, Chavez 6, Javier 5, Amin 5, Monteclaro 2, Moralde 0, Nayve 0, Nazareno 0, Lunas 0.
SSC 80 — Jumao-as 24, Delgado 14, Estrada 11, Pante 10, Vergara 7, Ramirez 6, Magno 4, de Guzman 3, Balid, Loconico 0, Mendoza 0, Trinadad 0, Hilario 0, Leyva 0.
Quarters: 20-15, 41-36, 72-63, 101-80.

Second Game (Srs)
SBC 71 — Daniel 19, Lanete 15, Hermida 12, Pascual 6, Dela Rosa 6, Gamalinda 6, Tecson 3, Caram 2, Marcelo 2, Tirona 0.
SSC 67 — Abueva 15, Sangalang 12, Pascual 12, Aquino 9, Maconocido 6, Najorda 5, Raymundo 3, Semira 3, Marquez 2, del Rio 0.
Quarters: 15-18, 28-35, 54-56, 71-67.