Bombers, Stags try to boost run

Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

JOSE Rizal U and San Sebastian aim to sustain their midseason surge while Letran tries to get back on track without three suspended players in the 92nd NCAA basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

The Heavy Bombers shoot for a fifth straight victory as they clash with the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals at 2 p.m.

A win by JRU—coming off a 68-58 conquest of Lyceum last Friday—will push the Bombers to solo fourth spot ahead of the Mapua Cardinals, with whom they share fourth spot at 7-5.

The Stags gun for a fourth consecutive victory against a Lyceum side seeking to resuscitate its Final Four bid in the noontime clash.

“We are more concerned with keeping the winning attitude before we think of anything else like the Final Four,” said San Sebastian coach Egay Macaraya, whose squad goes into the game on the back of wins over San Beda, Perpetual Help and Mapua.

The Knights and the Blazers clash at 4 p.m.

Already mired in a five-game slide, the Knights’ woes are mounting after the NCAA suspended Jerrick Balanza, Marvin Sario and Chris dela Paz for one game following their involvement in the bench-clearing incident at the end of San Beda’s 83-71 win last Friday.

Management committee chair Jose Mari Lacson of San Beda also upheld commissioner Andy Jao’s recommendation to slap a one-game ban on San Beda’s Antonio Bonsubre.

The incident was sparked by the offensive foul called on Letran’s Bong Quinto for elbowing San Beda’s Jomari Presbitero late in the game.

Balanza also elbowed Presbitero in the face and was called for a flagrant foul, which was later upgraded to a disqualifying foul.

“Balanza, during the deadball, hit the face of Presbitero. Sario and Dela Peña entered the court … exacerbating the situation and the tension,” said Jao.