San Beda’s Bolick: From heel to hero

After nailing a title for San Beda last June, Robert Bolick lifted the Red Lions to within a win of the coveted NCAA title with a come-from-behind 94-87 victory over the hitherto unbeaten Lyceum Pirates in the opener of their best-of-three showdown Friday.

Atoning for a missed free throw that allowed the Pirates to escape with a double overtime victory and complete an 18-game unbeaten sweep of the eliminations last month, Bolick redeemed himself big time by firing nine of San Beda’s last 11 points in the last two minutes to eventually destroy Lyceum’s myth of invincibility.

The Pirates, who lost a 57-45 lead early in the third quarter, remained in the thick of the fight at 82-83 when the 6-foot-1 Bolick came up with an eight-point blast that all but settled the issue. A three-pointer off the glass ignited the splurge then he added three free throws and a layup before Lyceum could respond with a meaningless five-point cluster that made it 91-87 with only 20 seconds left.

In converting his free throws after getting fouled from the three-point area, Bolick wiped out the painful memory of his charity split that kept the Pirates alive in their second meeting with the Lions in the eliminations last Oct. 19. With Bolick’s second free throw miss, Lyceum went on to forge a 97-97 tie for a second extension and finally won, 107-105.

Before taking the game over, Donald Tankoua kept the Lions in the fight to finish with 27 points, 17 of them in the second half. Bolick wound up with 24. CJ Perez, named the season’s Most Valuable Player before the game, paced Lyceum with 25.

Photo: TiebreakerTimes
Author: Ernesto A. Gonzales, Inquirer
Full Article: http://sports.inquirer.net/272272/san-bedas-bolick-heel-hero