Birthday boy del Rosario gifted Arellano their fourth win; Matute's hot-hands delivers as JRU sweeps Letran

RONNEL del Rosario sizzled with 21 points on his birthday yesterday as Arellano University slipped past Mapua, 76-72, in the 86th NCAA seniors basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

By posting their first winning streak of the season, the Chiefs improved to 4-5 mark, trailing only a game behind the 5-4 Cardinals in the race for the last ‘Final Four’ berth.

“We pinpointed from the very start kung sino ang babantayan sa Mapua. Nag-devise kami ng defensive plan kina (Allan) Mangahas at (Macky) Acosta and it clicked,” said Arellano mentor Leo Isaac.

Erwin Cornejo was the lone Mapua player in double digits with 29 points.

The Cardinals’ leading scorer in the first round with 11.4 points per game, Acosta went scoreless for the first time this season.

Adrian Celada added 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Rocky Acidre had 11 points for the Chiefs.

In the juniors division, Mark Cruz collected 25 points as the Letran Squires beat Jose Rizal Light Bombers, 86-75, and join their victims at 6-3.

Andoy Estrella and Rodolfo Alejandro combined for 29 points as the Mapua Red Robins routed the Arellano Baby Chiefs, 74-52, for their fifth win in nine starts.

JOSE Rizal University reasserted its mastery of Letran, 76-60, yesterday at the start of the second round of the NCAA seniors basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

“Nakikita na ang potential ng team, 70 percent na. At least tumataas na from the first round,” said Heavy Bombers coach Vergel Meneses.

Nate Matute, who averaged only 4.8 points per game in first round, sizzled with eight of his personal-best 22 points in the second period where the Heavy Bombers pulled away from a four-point advantage to take a 42-23 halftime lead.

Jose Rizal hiked its record to 7-2 record to move half a game behind defending champion San Sebastian College (7-1) for the No. 2 spot.

Heavy Bombers forward Marvin Hayes, who came from the pro league rookie camp, also delivered by churning out 12 points, seven assists and five boards.

The Knights slipped to sixth place with a 3-6 slate.

The Scores:
AU (76) – Del Rosario 21, Celada 17, Acidre 11, Lapuz 8, Tayongtong 8, Ciriacruz 4, Palma 3, Casiño 2, Zulueta 2, Caperal 0.
MIT (72) – Cornejo 29, Guillermo 9, Mangahas 8, Pascual 8, Ighalo 7, Sarangay 7, Parala 2, Stevens 2, Acosta 0, Banal 0, Cabrera 0, Ranises 0.
QS: 13-10; 39-31; 59-51; 76-72

Fourth Game
JRU (76) – Matute 22, Almario 13, Hayes 12, Lopez 8, Bulangis 6, Kabigting 6, Apinan 4, Njei 3, Montemayor 2, Badua 0, Etame 0.
Letran (60) – Belencion 14, Cortes 11, Alas K. 10, Espiritu 8, Taplah 5, Alas J. 4, Belorio 4, Dysam 3, Pantin 1, Almazan 0, Ang 0, Rodil 0.
QS: 17-13; 42-23; 56-43; 76-60

NCAA.Org