NCAA S87: AU vs SBC

History Lesson:
The defending NCAA champs found no real opposition from the Chiefs, as they turned a 21-17 first quarter deficit into a 44-35 lead at the break that only kept growing, until head coach Frankie Lim inserted his reserves in the fourth quarter. The game said volumes about San Beda's ability to execute, as they won 92-67, treating the Chiefs' zone defense like it was never really there. (Recap here)

What's at Stake: 

• The Chiefs are 5-10, just a game behind the 6-9 logjam for fourth place. A win here boosts their postseason chances, while further harming San Beda's chances at getting the twice to beat advantage inherent in the top two seeds.
• San Beda went back to its winning ways, improving to 11-2 after holding off the Cardinals, to stay a half-step behind the Letran Knights. A win here ties them with that team, necessary if the Red Lions want to snag a twice to beat advantage. 

AU Stat to Watch : Arellano's zone barely slowed San Beda down because the Red Lions were too speedy for the Chiefs, preventing them from getting back and setting it up. SBC scored 29 fast break points and 21 points off turnovers, as turnovers and poor transition defense burned AU. If they allow their opponent to get up and running again, another loss might be in order.
AU Player to Watch : Andrian Celada was barely a factor in their first encounter, scoring a mere eight points as the former Mythical Five selection struggled with a 3 of 14 shooting clip. He's been much improved since then though, having scored double-digits over the past 10 points, including coming off a 29-point career best versus Lyceum. That's the sort of effort he'll need to provide against a top-notch team like San Beda.

SBC Stat to Watch : The Red Lions notched 28 assists in this game, two shy of their season-high, as all that running and stealing turned out to be conducive to lots of forward passes to streaking open players. In their two losses, San Beda was held to under 20 assists, with 15 and 12 versus San Sebastian and JRU respectively. The team simply cannot take this game lightly and rely on individual play to win. 
SBC Player to Watch : Then a reserve, point guard Anjo Caram turned in his best performance of the season versus Arellano in the first round, with 15 points on perfect 6/6 shooting from the field plus five assists and no turnovers. Since then, Caram has assumed the starting job, and has shined as the team's floor general. If the perimeter defense is as bad now as it was back then, we could see some hot shooting coming from him again.