By ADRIAN STEWART CO

The San Beda University Red Lions leaned on a huge fourth quarter rampage to defeat the Mapua University Cardinals, 76-66, in the do-or-die Game 3 of the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, December 17.

Down 53-57 to start the fourth quarter, the Red Lions got back-to-back three-pointers from Yukien Andrada and an inside conversion from Emman Tagle to force a deadlock at 61-all.

James Payosing gave the Red Lions a 63-61 lead before it was followed by another three-pointer from Andrada and an inside basket by Jacob Cortez to widen the lead to 68-61.

The Cardinals managed to cut the deficit to 63-68 on a Paolo Hernandez basket, but the Red Lions responded with an inside basket from Clifford Jopia and free throws by Payosing for a 73-63 lead.

Andrada finished the game with 20 points, with 18 coming in the second half, to go with six rebounds and two steals as the Red Lions closed out the best-of-three championship series at 2-1.

Payosing chipped in a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds to go with two steals to be named finals MVP, while rookie Nygel Gonzales contributed 10 markers for the Red Lions, which claimed their 23rd NCAA crown, the first since 2018.

“The players give their all to win this,” Red Lions head coach Yuri Escueta said.

“During the start of the tournament, no one believed in us, but the players believed in themselves,” he said.

“We were struggling in the second round of the playoffs, but the players decided what direction they wanted to end our season, so they worked hard and turned our campaign around,” he added.

JC Recto finished with a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Cardinals, while Clint Escamis and Ryle Rosillo chipped in 13 and 10 markers, respectively.

Team captain Warren Bonifacio was a disappointment in his final game for Mapua, as he finished with four points (on 2-of-8 shooting) and seven rebounds, while Paolo Hernandez also struggled with six markers.

SAN BEDA 76 — Andrada 20, Payosing 11, Gonzales 10, Cortez 8, Royo 6, Jopia 6, Tagle 4, Alfaro 4, Puno 3, Visser 2, Cuntapay 2.

MAPUA 66 — Recto 18, Escamis 13, Rosillo 10, Hernandez 6, Dalisay 5, Cuenco 5, Bonifacio 4, Soriano 3, Fornis 2, Bancale 0, Sabsalon 0.

Quarterscores: 24-15, 36-35, 53-57, 76-66./ASC, WDJ