MAPUA went to Lawrence Mangubat in the fourth quarter to foil a Lyceum of the Philippines University rally and escaped with a 69-68 win on Tuesday to clinch a spot to the NCAA Season 100 Final Four at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.
Mangubat erupted for a team-high 16 points including eight in the final canto that quashed a late rally by the Pirates and sealed the Cardinals an 11th win against three defeats and a return trip to the semis.
It was Mangubat who stepped up when his team needed it the most as he drained a jumper that knotted the count at 66 and then hit the dagger triple off a pass by skipper Clint Escamis to fuel the Cardinals’ win.
The victory also sent league leader College of St. Benilde, which remained unshakeable at the helm with an 11-2 mark, also to the Final Four.
The Cardinals appeared to have the game all wrapped up when they soared to a 51-35 advantage—their biggest in the duel—late in the third canto.
The Pirates though went on a fourth quarter rampage and turned the tables in their favor by leading by two points twice, the last was at 68-66 after LPU captain Renz Villegas canned a sweet jumper with five seconds to go.
It proved to be LPU’s last as Mangubat went on to swish the dagger.
That sent the Pirates sprawling to 6-8.
Meanwhile, San Beda used a big second-quarter run to break loose and hammer out an 83-70 rout of Jose Rizal University to strengthen its own Final Four bid.
James Payosing and Jomel Puno hit 18 and 17 points, respectively, as the Lions improved to 9-5 and inched closer to making the semis cut.
The Bombers stumbled to 4-10.
Games Wednesday
(Filoil EcoOil Arena)
11 a.m.- Letran vs EAC
2:30 p.m.- UPHSD vs CSB
