JOSE Rizal University held Lyceum of the Philippines University without a field goal in the final five minutes to score a 63-57 win and force a three-way tie in second place in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre yesterday.

The Bombers rallied from a 47-56 hole, as Marwin Dionisio dropped nine points in his team’s 16-1 finishing run to extend their winning run to five games.

With a 5-2 record overall, JRU tied its victims and San Beda tore Arellano University to shreds, 96-61, in the first game, at No. 2.

The result allowed idle College of Saint Benilde to become the solo leader with a 6-1 slate.

Coach Louie Gonzalez has modest goals for the Bombers, who last reached Final Four in 2017.

“Ang target naman is to play as competitive as possible every game. Bonus naman kung nananalo tayo,” said Gonzalez.

“I have been with the organization for three years already but with this line-up, halos bago pa rin ito. I don’t put that pressure on my players na kailangang ganitong-ganito tayo. Kailangan, everyday, day in and day out sa practice namin, there is always a challenge for new learning. Kaya alam nila na hindi puwede tayong mag-petiks,” he added.

Dionisio had 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 11 rebounds while William Sy added 10 points for JRU.

JM Bravo scored 11 points for the Pirates, as Mac Guadaña was held to seven points on 2-of-9 scoring. LPU missed all but one of 25 attempts from the three-point area.

James Kwekuteye and JB Bahio combined for 12 points in the first quarter as the Red Lions ran away with a 29-9 advantage.

San Beda posted its biggest lead of the game, 84-33, at the end of the third period before slowing down in the last 10 minutes of play.

Bahio led the Red Lions with 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists while Kwekuteye also scored 13 points to go with eight boards, two steals and two assists before sitting out in the entire fourth quarter.

With Bahio and Kwekueteye getting a much-needed rest in the payoff period, this will be very helpful as the Red Lions play the Blazers tomorrow.

“Our starters and the back-up guys played good defense so that’s why I was able to rotate my players especially coming into sa CSB game sa Sunday kaagad iyon,” said San Beda coach Yuri Escueta. “Ang sabi ko sa mga players, we should just stick to the system.”

The Red Lions rebounded from last Tuesday’s 80-83 defeat from the hands of the Bombers, in a game Escueta said they were outworked.

“Yung loss namin sa JRU was really a humbling experience for all of us,” said Escueta. “Coming into that JRU game, medyo yung mga players, I can say naging overconfident tapos we didn’t respect our opponent.”

Darell Menina had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Chiefs, who fell to 4-4.

The scores:

First game

San Beda (96) — Kwekuteye 13, Bahio 13, Ynot 11, Sanchez 10, Cortez 10, Andrada 7, Alfaro 7, Cometa 6, Cuntapay 5, Jopia 4, Tagala 3, Payosing 3, Visser 2, Tagle 2, Alloso 0.
Arellano (61) — Menina 10, Doromal 8, Flores 7, Oliva 7, Sunga 7, Mantua 6, Domingo 5, Abastillas 4, Punzalan 3, Talampas 3, Mallari 1, Tolentino 0, Oftana 0.
Quarterscores: 29-9, 55-23, 84-33, 96-61

Second game

JRU (63) — Dionisio 15, Sy 10, Amores 8, Guiab 7, Delos Santos 6, Gonzales 6, Dela Rosa 5, Medina 4, Miranda 2, Celis 0, Arenal 0, Joson 0, Villarin 0.
LPU (57) — Bravo 11, Barba 9, Guadaña 7, Peñafiel 7, Umali 5, Valdez 4, Cunanan 4, Larupay 3, Villegas 3, Omandac 3, Navarro 1, Montaño 0.
Quarterscores: 18-16, 29-38, 43-49, 63-57.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Theodore P. Jurado