MANILA (UPDATED) — Jacob Cortez’s hot hands helped San Beda University force a do-or-die matchup against Lyceum of the Philippines University on Friday.

The Red Lions crushed the Pirates, 89-68, in the NCAA Season 99 Men’s Basketball Final Four on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Cortez finished with a career-high of 28 points, eight assists, four rebounds, and three steals to allow the Mendiola-based squad to keep their hopes of returning to the championship round alive.

Yuki Andrada and Nygel Gonzales also finished in double digits for San Beda by putting up 12 markers each.

The Red Lions banked on a strong first-half performance from Cortez who already had 14 points which came from two triples after only 15 minutes of action.

He continued his hot shooting in the final 20 minutes, scoring another in that span, and this allowed San Beda to create a lead that grew to as much as 21, 89-68, in the final minutes of action.

Spearheading the Pirates’ attack was Enoch Valdez who tallied 14 points and nine rebounds, and Mac Guadaña and John Barba who scored 12 and 10, respectively.

Both squads will slug it out once more when they face on Friday, 3 PM, at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The winner will be facing the Mapua Cardinals in the NCAA Finals.

San Beda will try to duplicate their 2018 run wherein they defeated the same squad twice in the Final Four to enter the championship round. The Red Lions won the title that same year.

The scores:

San Beda 89- Cortez 28, Andrada 12, Gonzales 12, Payosing 9, Puno 7, Visser 6, Tagle 6, Jopia 6, Alfaro 2, Cuntapay 1, Tagala 0, Torres 0

LPU 68- Valdez 14, Guadana 12, Barba 10, Cunanan 9, Umali 8, Villegas 6, Bravo 4, Montano 3, Omandac 2, Penafiel 0, Saure 0, Fuentes 0, Versoza 0

Quarterscores: 22-16; 52-38; 73-60; 89-68