Stags Battle Cardinals, Target Share Of Lead

After resting for more than half a month, San Sebastian College hopes to return to competitive form as it guns for win No. 4 and a share of the lead against Mapua this Friday in the 86th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

The defending champions who are idle for 16 days and the Cardinals (2-1) clash at 4 p.m.

The Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers (3-1) likewise hope to extend their own winning streak to four when they face the College of St. Benilde Blazers (1-0) in the opener at 2 p.m.

The Blazers actually took a longer break than the Stags since they last played 18 days ago when they thumped Arellano, 70-64.

A victory by the Stags will allow them to grab a piece of the lead with San Beda College (4-0), although they have to overcome the rust stemming from the long vacation.

Their break took so long after their match versus the Blazers on July 14 was cancelled because of the metro-wide power interruption caused by tropical depression "Basyang."

"We hope to be in top form despite the long break. We did our part to stay sharp by regularly practicing," said SSC coach Ato Agustin, who is expected to draw firepower from strong bull Calvin Abueva, Ian Sangalang, Ronald Pascual and John Raymundo.

The Stags have not played since July 7 when they crushed Emilio Aguinaldo College, 106-66.

That 40-point win was the second biggest margin this season, next to the Lions' 42-point victory, 97-55, also against the Generals.

The Cardinals are hoping to follow up their 73-51 rout over the Chiefs, and they are expected to rely anew on the troika of Mark Acosta, Erwin Cornejo and Michael Parala, who led the team with double-digit outputs, 18, 14 and 12 respectively in that game.

Cameroonian Joe Etame, meanwhile, should step up his game a notch higher if he wants to get more playing minutes from JRU coach Vergel Meneses.

In the team's 78-62 win against Arellano, Etame struggled to only two points in nine minutes, forcing Meneses to sit him out in favor of the other Camroonian, John Njei, who dished out a a sterling all-around performance of 10 points, seven assists, six boards, two steals and two blocks. NCAA rules only allow one foreign player on the floor.

Francis Santiago, Manila Bulletin