Games Tuesday (Filoil EcoOil Arena)
11 a.m.- SSC-R vs CSB
2:30 p.m.- Letran vs San Beda
Mapua went to Clint Escamis in averting a fourth quarter uprising by Jose Rizal University and preserving an 88-81 victory on Sunday to vault the Cardinals back to second spot in NCAA Season 100 at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.
The reigning MVP scored six of his game-high 19 points in the final period to help the Cardinals defuse the bomb the Bombers tried to detonate there, lifting the former to joint No. 2 with the Letran Knights with a 5-2 record each.
It was actually a balanced attack for last year’s runner up as four others finished in double figures—Lawrence Mangubat (16), Chris Hubilla (15), Marc Cuenco (13) and Jeco Bancale (10).
The Cardinals set the pace early, burying the Kalentong-based dribblers in the opening quarter, 32-18, and then quickly dropped a 10-1 blast in the first couple of minutes of the next canto to pad it to 42-19 for the former’s biggest lead of the game.
When everybody thought it would be a walk in the park the rest of the way, JRU went out to prove they were mistaken as it came charging back to cut its deficit down to just five, 71-66, on a thunderous triple by its lion-hearted skipper Joshua Guiab early in the final canto.
It was the closest the Bombers could get as Escamis and the Cardinals’ shackling defense did their damage to hang on to the win.
JRU dropped to 2-5.
