The defending champion Mapua Red Robins and the La Salle Greenhills Greenies are fast emerging as the most dominant squad in the junior division of the 93rd National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball tournament.
This is not like past seasons, when the San Beda Red Cubs were the dominant force.
Last Friday, the Red Robins proved themselves as worthy finals contenders again.
That’s when the Red Robins came away with a 73-71 beating of the San Beda Red Cubs at the Arena in San Juan.
Carl Lacap hurt his right hand during a steal in the first quarter. But he still came up with a timely steal in the last 3.8 seconds.
Lacap snatched the ball away from Addie Velasquez during a possession battle, and set up Will Gozum for two winning charities.
This sent the Red Robins to their ninth straight win in 11 games.
The Red Robins are now in the company of the La Salle Greenhills Greenies with the same 9-2 win-loss record.
The Greenies turned back the Lyceum Junior Pirates, 90-83, with Joel Cagulangan banging in a gamehigh 19 points.
“Nakita ko siya, nataranta. Kaya binulabog ko kaya nakuha ko ang bola,” said the 19-year old Lacap.
He passed the ball on to Gozum, who was fouled by Sean Garcia in the next play.
This gave Gozum to shoot two winning charities, which won them the game.
“Siyempre factor din iyung dalawang free throws ni Will. Yun din ang nagpanalo sa amin,” said Red Robins coach Randy Alcantara.
Gozum went on to lead the Red Robins with 22 points and eight rebounds, while Warren Bonifacio tallied 13.
The Red Cubs, with Josh Tagala scoring 15 points, dropped to second at 6-5.
–LSGH prevails over Lyceum Junior Pirates, 90-83
Shooting guard Joshua David joined Joel Cagulangan in coming up with big plays that allowed the La Salle Greenhills to eke out a 90-83 triumph over the Lyceum Junior Pirates.
The 17-year old David first shattered an 82-all deadlock with his drive in the last 1:39.
Then, Junior Pirates hotshot Mclaude Guadana missed a triple off David’s defense in the next play.
After Vincent Cunanan missed another trey in the next play, the Greenies moved away by 6 off a putback by Josh Marcos and Cagulangan, 88-82, with 21.3 seconds left.
“Nagtulung-tulung kami, teamwork ito,” said David.
LSGH coach Marvin Bienvenida said the team is continuing to get better.
“They were missing their outside shots, and they were making a lot of it in the first,” said Bienvenida.
Guadana powered the Pirates with 22 points, while Neil Ruiz added 19.
The Junior Pirates are now behind at 4-7.
– SSC Staglets win over EAC Brigadiers
The San Sebastian Staglets drew double digit outputs from four mainstays to put away the Emilio Aguinaldo College Brigadiers, 80-62, last night at the Arena in San Juan.
Lewis Pasamante, Romel Calahat, Alex Desoyo and Bryan Pelias scored 12, 11, 11 and 10 points to lead the Staglets to their third consecutive win in the 93rd National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) junior basketball tournament.
This gave the Staglets their fifth win in 10 matches.
This moved them to fifth spot, and in contention for a Final Four berth.
“Kailangan naming manalo para makapasok sa Final Four,” said Staglets coach Melo Banua.
The Staglets broke free from a 15-all deadlock in the second period.
With the Calahat protecting the boards with 17 rebounds, reserve players Jessie Sumoda and Ameer Aguilar combined for 11 points.
Their efforts helped the Staglets take a 34-26 cushion at halftime.
Maui Cruz hit 16 points for the Brigadiers, who fell behind at 1-9.
The Staglets outrebounded the Brigadiers, 58-32, with injured Damie Cuntapay adding his share of 9 points and 14 boards.
