Abueva lifts Stags past Bombers; Cards score

MANILA, Philippines - Calvin Abueva fired 16 points and hauled down 15 rebounds as San Sebastian gunned down Jose Rizal U, 72-59, yesterday to regain a share of the lead with San Beda in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

Doing what he does best, Abueva played with a lot of energy and bullied his way past his defenders to finish with another double-double job and power the defending champion Stags to their fifth straight victory.

“What can I say, he (Abueva) is always like that even in practice. He’s part of the reason we won,” said San Sebastian coach Ato Agustin.

The Stags made their move late in the second quarter when they shut down the Bombers while coming up with an 11-0 blitz that shattered a 24-all count for a 35-24 bulge at the break.

With Abueva also leading SSC’s rock-solid defense, the Stags never relinquished the lead from there with the Bombers coming in closest at seven points.

Marvin Hayes, many-time member of the first Mythical team, also shot 16 points for the Bombers, who saw their four-game run snap for a 4-2 slate.

Earlier, Mark Acosta fired 20 points as Mapua downed injury-plagued Letran, 66-51, to get back into the thick of things.

Acosta highlighted his fine offensive game with five triples, powering the Cardinals to their third win in five games for a spot inside the magic four.

“He (Acosta) really made an effort to polish his shooting skill and he’s starting to reap the fruits of his labor,” said Mapua coach Chito Victolero.

The Knights sorely missed the services of top scorer Kevin Alas, who sat out the game due to a knee contusion, and struggled all game then fell to their fourth defeat against a victory.

The Cardinals also welcomed the return of Allan Mangahas, who was benched the last time out but came out strong this time, finishing with nine rebounds, seven assists and five points.

“It was a coach’s decision to bench him, I just wouldn’t say the reason,” said Victolero referring to the 2008 rookie of the year awardee.

Earlier, Jose Rizal leaned on a foul shot by Cris dela Paz with six seconds to go as it rallied past San Sebastian, 70-69, for a share of the lead with Perpetual Help in junior play.

Jerome Garcia led the Light Bombers with 22 points and wound up with seven rebounds, five steals and four assists while dela Paz finished with 18 points for JRU, which hiked its record to 4-2.

The loss sent the Staglets down to fourth with a 3-2 card.

Rey Nambatac and Mark Cruz combined for 49 points to power the Letran Squires to an 89-83 win over the Mapua Red Robins for a 2-3 slate.

Joey Villar, Philippine Star