Games today:
(Filoil EcoOil Centre)
10 a.m. — JRU vs Arellano
12:20 p.m. — San Sebastian vs San Beda
2:40 p.m. — Perpetual vs Saint Benilde
Mapua University sank crucial shots for a 69-66 win over defending champion Letran College in Season 99 National Collegiate Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan yesterday.
The Cardinals picked up their ninth win in 11 games as they continue to reign supreme with Clint Escamis tallying a new career-high of 28 points along with two rebounds, one assist, two steals, and one block.
Escamis’ two free throws with three ticks left closed out the scoring as the Knights were prevented from rifling off a game-tying triple in the final seconds.
Letran actually took a 57-56 advantage with under a minute remaining but Jopet Soriano’s reverse layup gave the lead back.
“These are the kind of games that we need, the ones where our character will be shown. We can’t rattle ourselves and we have to stay composed,” Cardinals head coach Randy Alcantara said.
“Defense and our extra passes were the keys in this game,” he added.
Jopet Soriano had 14 points and six rebounds for Mapua while Warren Bonifacio had eight points and nine rebounds.
Kurt Reyson’s 17-point output came up short as Letran suffered its third straight loss for a pitiful 1-10 record at 10th place.
In the first game, Lyceum of the Philippines University survived a gutsy Emilio Aguinaldo College side, 81-78.
With a 79-78 lead six seconds left in the game, Renz Villegas sank two pressure-packed free throws to get the job done.
JP Maguliano failed to convert what could have been a game-tying triple for the Generals in the dying seconds of the match as Lyceum improved to an 8-3 record and EAC dropped to a 6-5 slate.
Lyceum head coach Gilbert Malabanan was delighted with the turn of events as team captain Enoch Valdez was not even around owing to a high fever and the trio of JM Bravo, John Barba and JM Bravo are also out with injuries.
“My team is very unpredictable. That’s a good thing because they’re ready whenever their names are called,” Malabanan said.
‘We never give up. The players dedicated this game to Enoch and we hope for him to get well soon.”
Oman Omandac flirted with a double-double with 24 points and nine rebounds while Villegas scored 13 points and eight rebounds.
