MAPUA and Lyceum of the Philippines University bested separate foes to maintain their hold of 1-2 spots in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

The Cardinals turned to Warren Bonifacio to repulse San Sebastian, 70-63, while the Pirates came from behind to defeat deposed champion Letran, 85-79.

In the other game, San Beda improved to 27-0 all-time against Emilio Aguinaldo College with a 81-71 win and arrest a two-game slide.

Mapua and LPU rose to 10-3, opening a 1 1/2 game buffer in the race for the two twice-to-beat slots in the Final Four.

Bonifacio, playing in his final season for the Cardinals, rose to the ocassion, stuffing the stat sheet with 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Thanks to hot shooting from Mc Guadaña and JM Bravo, the Pirates outscored the Knights, 29-11, in the payoff period to prevail.

Guadaña finished with 18 points, Enoch Valdez also scored 18 points and hauled down nine rebounds while Bravo added 17 points for LPU.

While praising his Pirates’ efforts to rally, coach Gilbert Malabanan also called his troops for sustained effort in their upcoming matchups.

“Iwan ko ba kung bakit palaging ganito ang team namin, palaging humahabol sa fourth quarter ng second half, pero kaya naman sana gawin iyon sa first half. Sa totoo lang, siguro nasanay na lang din mga players ko sa ganun, pero gusto ko kung paano nila nilalaro sa second half,” said Malabanan.

“Siguro nakita ninyo naman nung first half, hanggang third quarter, sobrang relaxed ang mga players namin. Sabi ko sa playoffs, hindi tayo pwede maging kampante. Dapat magkaroon tayo ng parehong energy mula first quarter hanggang fourth quarter,” he added.

Letran’s challenging season continued to worsen as it dropped to a league-worst 1-12 record.

Coach Yuri Escueta explained that their two losses in the past week helped his Red Lions squad learn from their mistakes and come back more focused against the Generals.

With a 8-4 record, San Beda moved in a tie with idle College of Saint Benilde in third place.

“Of course, we took it as a challenge. I just told our players that adversity is part of everything, whether it’s in basketball, the NCAA, or their studies,” said Escueta.

“But the important thing is how you handle it, how resilient you are after tough losses. That’s what’s going to develop your character. So, this is a good win for us,” he added.

The scores:

First game

San Beda (81) – Cortez 15, Payosing 14, Jopia 13, Royo 13, Puno 11, Tagle 6, Visser 6, Andrada 3, Alfaro 0, Cuntapay 0, Gonzales 0.
EAC (71) – Cosejo 18, Robin 14, Gurtiza 10, Maguliano 10, Quinal 5, Ochavo 4, Tolentino 3, Luciano 2, Loristo 2, Umpad 2, Angeles 1, Bacud 0.
Quarterscores: 22-9, 37-28, 57-47, 81-71

Second game

LPU (85) – Valdez 18, Guadaña 18, Bravo 17, Umali 7, Montaño 6, Villegas 6, Omandac 6, Cunanan 5, Peñafiel 2, Barba 0, Aviles 0, Fuentes 0.
Letran (79) – Cuajao 24, Monje 20, Go 8, Santos 6, Nunag 6, Fajardo 5, Batallier 4, Jumao-as 4, Garupil 2, Ariar 0.
Quarterscores: 25-23, 41-45, 56-68, 85-79

Third game

Mapua (70) – Bonifacio 15, Cuenco 12, Soriano 11, Hernandez 8, Escamis 7, Recto 7, Dalisay 6, Igliane 4, Bancale 0, Morenos 0, Fornis 0, Asuncion 0.
SSC-R (63) – Calahat 18, Felebrico 12, Are 8, Ra. Gabat 8, Desoyo 7, Sumoda 4, Una 4, Escobido 2, De Leon 0, Shanoda 0, Castor 0, Aguilar 0.
Quarterscores: 12-11; 23-26; 51-45; 70-63.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Theodore P. Jurado