MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATED) Mapua Institute of Technology outlasted the defending champion Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 79-75, to rack up its sixth win and move to solo fourth place in the NCAA Season 92 men's basketball tournament Tuesday at the Arena in San Juan.
Darell Menina took over the scoring duties down the stretch, and the Cardinals survived a couple of late game blunders by their returning team captain, CJ Isit, to hike their record to 6-3.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak and allowed the Cardinals to take the fourth place in the league standings, behind San Beda College (8-1), Arellano University (7-2), and University of Perpetual Help (7-2).
The Knights, who led most of the way before falling victim to Menina's hot sniping and a few miscues of their own down the stretch, fell to No. 5 at 5-4.
"Nag-shoot lang ako with confidence," said Menina, who finished with 17 points on six-of-eight shooting, including three-of-five from beyond the arc. "Kasi noong first half, 'di ako naka-shoot. So sa second half, bumawi na lang ako"
The Cardinals were playing catch-up for most of the game, and were still down by five, 57-62, with 7:41 to go after a fastbreak bucket by Letran's Bong Quinto.
A 5-1 exchanged built on buckets by Isit and Allwell Oraeme made it a one-point game, 62-63, but JP Calvo padded the Letran lead with a jumper that made it 65-62 with 5:09 left to play.
That was when Menina took over. He scored 12 points in a blistering 13-6 run that put the Cardinals on top, 75-71, with 1:32 remaining. It was Menina's lay-up in transition that gave them the lead, 71-69, and his booming three-pointer over the outstretched arms of McJour Luib padded their lead to four points.
"Nag-practice lang ako ng mabuti para makatulong sa team," said Menina.
The Knights last threatened with 37.3 remaining, when Rey Nambatac evaded the defense of Isit to sink a three-pointer that made it a one-point game, 75-76.
Isit was warned for flopping on the play, and to make matters worse for Mapua, he committed a turnover in their next possession after being swarmed by Sollano and Jerick Balanza along the baseline.
Unfortunately for the defending champions, Nambatac misfired on a potential go-ahead jumper, and Quinto fouled Laurenz Victoria in the ensuing scramble for the ball. Victoria left the door open for a Letran comeback as he made only one of two charities, but Quinto was called for a traveling violation, allowing Joseph Eriobu to ice the game at the free throw line.
"I'm just happy that we got the win today," said Oraeme, who had 20 points and 20 rebounds in the victory. "We've been struggling for the past couple of games, so I'm just happy that we won today."
"We just believed in the system of our defense," Oraeme said of their strong stand in the final seconds. "No fouls, just contain them. Clean defense, and it worked out."
Eriobu played his best game of the season so far, scoring 19 points to go along with 12 rebounds. Isit finished with nine points in his first game back after missing two contests due to a finger injury.
The Cardinals shot nearly 46% from the field throughout the game, and won despite committing 29 turnovers that the Knights turned into 32 transition points.
The Knights, for their part, drew a 20-point performance from Quinto, while Sollano finished with 16 markers. But Nambatac only had 13 points on 11 shots, as he was contained for most of the game by the Mapua defense.
Letran shot a respectable 43.48% from the field, but were clobbered on the boards, 46-28.
Source : http://news.abs-cbn.com/
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