MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATED) For the first time in 20 years, De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (CSB) is headed to the NCAA Finals.

The Blazers outlasted San Beda University, 62-61, in their NCAA Season 98 Final 4 showdown on Tuesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre to book their place in the championship series.

It was a gritty win for the top-seeded CSB, which needed just one win in order to eliminate the No. 4 Red Lions from contention. San Beda erased a 13-point deficit and came within one shot of forcing an overtime period.

Miguel Oczon had 17 points and six rebounds, while James Pasturan contributed 16 points and four boards. Presumptive Most Valuable Player winner Will Gozum delivered a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers.

This is CSB's first appearance in the NCAA Finals since the 2002 season, when they were carried by Sunday Salvacion.

"It's a good feeling. To be honest, I told the team I was happy to make it to the Final 4, but for me, my minimum is to make it to the finals at least and at least now, we achieved that goal. But now that we're here, we want more pa," said CSB coach Charles Tiu.

The Blazers needed to survive a last-ditch rally from the Red Lions to get there, with a James Kwekuteye three-pointer making it a one-point game, 60-59, with still 14.4 seconds to go.

Two free throws by Oczon pushed Benilde's lead back to three points, 62-59, and the Blazers survived two misses from long range by Kwekuteye in San Beda's final possession.

Kwekuteye's last miss was agonizing for San Beda as he very nearly knocked down an open three-pointer only for the ball to swirl in and out of the hoop. Damie Cuntapay's putback with four-tenths of a second left pegged the final score but couldn't change the result in San Beda's favor.

Jacob Cortez had 13 points, while Kwekuteye scored 11 points to go with nine rebounds for the Red Lions.

CSB will play defending champion Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the best-of-3 finals that starts on December 4 at the Araneta Coliseum.

The scores:

CSB 62 -- Oczon 17, Pasturan 16, Gozum 10, Nayve 8, Corteza 7, Sangco 4, Cullar 0, Carlos 0, Marcos 0, Lepalam 0, Lim 0.

SAN BEDA 61 -- Cortez 13, Kwekuteye 11, Bahio 9, Sanchez 8, Ynot 6, Cuntapay 4, Andrada 3, Cometa 3, Alfaro 2, Visser 2, Payosing 0.

Quarters: 19-14, 34-31, 54-48, 62-61.