Cards foil scrappy Blazers in OT

MANILA, Philippines - Mapua leaned on Allan Mangahas’ superb plays in repulsing a hard-fighting St. Benilde in overtime, 65-63, to move to solo third in the 86th NCAA seniors’ basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Mangahas, the top rookie in 2008, shot a personal season-best 25 points, including four of the Cardinals’ six points in the extension. He also had four rebounds, three assists and three steals to power Mapua to victory.

The Cardinals thus improved to 5-2 for the No. 3 slot behind unbeaten San Sebastian (6-0) and San Beda (6-0).

In the second game, Emilio Aguinaldo College overhauled a 15-point lead as the Generals ripped Perpetual Help, 78-66, for their second win in six outings.

Emilian Vargas fired 21 points to go with six rebounds and four assists while Claude Cubo had a double-double game of 19 markers and 18 boards as the Generals joined idle Letran and Arellano in a triple tie for fifth.

Vargas and Cubo made their killing in the fourth period, punching in eight and nine, respectively, as the Generals outscored the Altas, 25-8, to complete the come-from-behind win.

Arnold Danganan and Justine Alano led the way with 14 apiece for the Altas, who posted a 26-11 lead in the first canto only to allow EAC to close in at 33-36 at the turn and 58-53 entering the fourth.

MIT mentor Chito Victolero credited his wards’ defense, particularly in extension, wherein they forced the Blazers to five turnovers, one of which paved the way for Mangahas’ triple that shoved them to a 63-61 lead with 1:30 left.

“It was all about defense,” said Victolero, who moved one triumph away from matching their squad’s total wins last year. “If we want to get to the next level, we have to defend well and we did that today.”

Victolero also drew a solid game from big man Mark Sarangay, who grabbed a season-high 21 boards that went well with eight points.

The Blazers actually threatened to within, 63-64, on a fastbreak layup by Mark De Guzman with 11.5 seconds remaining.

But the Cardinals stretched it to two once more on Mark Acosta’s split that eventually preserved the hard-earned win.

Carlo Lastimosa, nephew of ex-PBA great Jojo Lastimosa, topscored for Benilde with 21 points but was held scoreless and had five errors in overtime.

The Cardinals earlier appeared headed to a win in regulation when they posted a five-point lead entering the final two minutes.

However, Lastimosa single-handedly wiped out MIT’s edge with an off-balanced lay-up and a triple that knotted the count at 59.

“It was a very intense and close ballgame. Hats off to St. Benilde, they really prepared well for this game. Even if they’re tired from playing their third game in a week, they still dished out a great performance against us,” Victolero said.

Olmin Leyba, Philippine Star