MANILA—Pushed to the hilt, San Beda outlasted gutsy Mapua, 74-68, to extend its historic streak in the NCAA men’s
basketball tournament Friday.
Dave Marcelo rose to the occasion by gunning down a huge up and under off a broken play with 27.2 seconds that
sealed the Red Lions’ seventh with sans a loss in season 87.
Up by two, Marcelo caught a timely pass from the seasoned scorer Garvo Lanete who slipped just as he was
positioning himself for the shot then shook off his defender for the basket.
Marcelo finished with 13 points while Lanete exploded for 18 points for San Beda in the second game at the Arena in San Juan..
“It’s about time [Dave Marcelo] played a big game. He battled and worked hard for it,” said San
Beda coach Frankie Lim.
Red Lions clearly aren’t the same team without former MVP Sudan Daniel, though, as they were painfully
outrebounded by the lengthy Cardinals, 32-54.
“It wasn’t easy for us,” said Lim. “When you don’t have Sudan, you’ll have to wake wins like that [even if it’s ugly.]”
Huffing, puffing and trailing for most of the first half, the Red Lions retaliated with a tremendous third quarter to regain control of the game.
But even as they pushed the advantage to 61-47 at the start of the fourth, Mapua nonetheless flirted with busting the historic 25-game winning streak since season 86.
Allan Mangahas engaged in a virtual shootout with the equally blistering Lanete and put the Cardinals to within two, 68-70, with under a minute to play.
But Mangahas’ swishing teardrop with 47.2 ticks was the last basket for the Cardinals, who reeled to their fifth loss
with two wins.
Mangahas totaled to 25 points, 11 coming in the fourth quarter, while Mapua’s big men Mark Sarangay,
Michael Parala and Yousef Taha combined for 26 markers.
“Mapua scouted us well and played well. It wasn’t easy for us,” added Lim.
Although the Cardinals had a big edge in the boards, they turned the ball over twice as much as the Red
Lions.