Games on Friday (The Arena, San Juan City)
10 a.m. — Mapua vs CSB (Jrs)
12 noon — EAC vs. Perpetual (Jrs)
2 p.m. — Mapua vs. CSB (Srs)
4 p.m. — EAC vs. Perpetual (Srs)

San Beda College unleashed a scorching 65-18 run in the second half as the Red Lions crushed Arellano University, 92-57, and gain a piece of the lead in the 86th NCAA basketball tournament on Wednesday at The Arena in San Juan City.

Struggling to find their form in the first half, the Lions came alive in the third period before pouring in the heat in the fourth to extend their unbeaten run to six games and tie idle defending champion San Sebastian College on top (6-0).

"We made them (Arellano) realize that we're not playing our game," San Beda mentor Frankie Lim said. "We just outran them."

The Red Lions fell into a maze of errors (16) in the first half, allowing the Chiefs to take a 39-27 lead on a buzzer-beating layup by Ronnel del Rosario.

But the lead vanished in the face of an 18-0 SBC blast to open the third period.

The Lions were never in trouble after that as Fil-Australian Anthony Semerad and Adler dela Rosa joined forces with Dave Marcelo and Borgie Hermida in a mighty running attack that saw them list a 34-7 run in the fourth period that virtually took the fight out of the hapless Chiefs.

A jumper by Jess Villahermosa gave the Lions an insurmountable 89-57 lead, with under three minutes remaining.

The day, however, belonged to Semerad, a product of John Paul College in Brisbane, Australia, as he churned out a career-high 20 points aside from registering another personal high of 10 rebounds on top of two assists in 24 minutes of action.

Dela Rosa backed Semerad with 16 points, seven boards and six assists, while Marcelo had 16 points, 14 caroms and five blocks. Hermida, on the other hand, had 11 pointsm eight rebounds, eight assists, and three steals as the Lions sent Arelano to its fourth setback against two wins.

In the first game, Kristoffer Alas came through with career-highs of 15 points and 13 boards as Letran snapped a two-game skid with a 70-54 thumping of College of Saint Benilde.

"I want to recognize Junjun for making a double-double effort. Pag maganda laro niya lalo sa rebounding maganda rin ang nilalaro ng team," Letran mentor Louie Alas said of his son Kristoffer.

The Knights actually played minus their No. 1 scorer in Kevin Alas, Kristoffer's younger brother who is still recovering from a troublesome knee, but Letran proved it has plenty of firepower as four players scored in double figures.

The victory allowed the Knights to improve to 2-4 and overtake the Blazers (1-4) at sixth spot.

In the juniors action, the Letran Squires thumped La Salle-Greenhills, 68-64, while defending champion San Beda Red Cubs swamped the Arellano Junior Chiefs, 77-41, for their fifth win in six outings for solo top spot.

The scores
First game:
LETRAN 70 – Alas J. 15, Cortes 12, Belencion 11, Dysam 10, Espiritu 7, Belorio 7, Taplah 4, Pantin 2, Alejandro 2, Almazan 0, Ang 0, Roxas 0, Publico 0.
SAINT BENILDE 54 – Lastimosa 12, dela Paz 9, de Guzman 7, Wong 7, Abolucion 6, Nayve 5, McCoy 3, Tan 2, Argamino 1, Ongteco 1, Melocoton 1, Sinco 0, Mañalac 0, Amin 0, Sevilla 0.
Quarters: 17-11, 36-28, 57-37, 70-54.

Second game:
SAN BEDA 92 – Semerad A. 20, dela Rosa 16, Marcelo 16, Hermida 11, Mendoza 9, Daniel 7, Villahermosa 5, Pascual J. 3, Caram 3, Pascual K. 2, Lim 0.
ARELLANO 57 – Celada 16, Acidre 9, Ciriacruz 8, Casiño 7, Advincula 6, del Rosario 4, Zulueta 4, Lapuz 3, Santos 0, Palma 0, Catapang 0, Anquilo 0, Caperal 0.
Quarters: 19-16, 27-39, 58-50, 92-57.