Mapua thwarts Letran for third win; San Sebastian bamboozled Heavy Bombers for fifth straight win

Mapua drew strength from a superb effort from Big man Mark Acosta as it downed injury-plagued Letran, 66-51, yesterday to boost its stock in the 86th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

Acosta saw his pre-season effort harnessing his outside shooting finally bearing fruit as he pumped in five triples to finish with a game-high 20 points as the Cardinals nailed their third win in five outings to stay 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 struggled offensively as they missed the services of top scorer Kevin Alas, who sat out the game due to a knee contusion, and fell to their fourth defeat against a triumph.

The Cardinals also saw the return of their leader Allan Mangahas, benched last game but came out aggressive on this one by finishing with efficient enough numbers—five points and team-highs nine rebounds and seven assists.

“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.

Earlier, Jose Rizal leaned on a foul shot by Cris dela Paz with six seconds to go as it rallied to stun San Sebastian, 70-69, to seize a share of the lead in the juniors’ division with idle Perpetual Help on 4-2 records.

Jerome Garcia led the Light Bombers with 22 points he spiked with seven boards, five steals and foru assists while dela Paz finished with 18 points.

The loss sent the Staglets down to fourth spot 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 to improve to 2-3.

Defending champion San Sebastian banked on the monster effort of Calvin Albueva as it gunned down Jose Rizal, 72-59, yesterday to regain a share of the lead with last year’s runner-up San Beda in the 86th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

Abueva, called “The Beast” for his energetic and bullying ways, came through with game-highs 16 points, 15 rebounds and four steals to power the Stags to a fifth straight win and a place on top along with the Lions.

“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 unleashing an 11-0 blitz that transformed a 24-all deadlock to a 35-24 lead at the break.

With a rock-solid defense anchored on Abueva, San Sebastian never relinquished the lead from there as Jose Rizal could only get as near as seven points.

Marvin Hayes, a many-time member of the elite First Mythical team, paced the Bombers with 16 points but they just don’t have an answer to Abueva.

Jose Rizal thus saw its four-game run snapped as it dropped to its second setback.

The scores:

Mapua 66 - Acosta 20, Banal 8, Pascual 7, Cronejo 6, Guillermo 6, Ranises 6, Mangahas 5, Parala 5, Mangahas 5, Stevens 3, Sarangay 0
Letran 51 - Dysam 12, Belencion 10, Espiritu 8, Taplah 8, Cortes 7, Alejandro 3, Kr. Alas 2, Belorio 1, Almazan 0, Pantin 0, Ang 0
Quarterscores: 20-17; 34-30; 50-40; 66-51


San Sebastian 72 - Abueva 16, Pascual 14, Raymundo 13, Bulawan 9, del Rio 8, Sangalang 4, Gorospe 4, Semira 2, Gatchalian 2, Maconocido 0
Jose Rizal 59 - Hayes 16, J. Lopez 12, Etame 10, Bulangis 9, Kabigting 5, Njei 3, Almario 2, Matute 2, Montemayor 0, M. Lopez 0, Apinan 0
QS: 20-16; 35-24; 51-41; 72-59