Sera-Josef shines as Chiefs add to Bombers’ woes

Maui Sera-Josef was fouled while taking a three-pointer with 14.9 seconds left in the game and teammate Richard Abanes added two free throws as Arellano hammered out a 76-74 victory over Jose Rizal U Thursday in the Filoil Flying V preseason tournament.

Sera-Josef hit the Filoil Flying V Centre floor hard after the foul by JRU’s Justin Padua and could not continue after draining the triple that knotted the count at 74. Abanes stepped in for the bonus charity then added one more for good measure after another foul by the Bombers as Arellano pinned an eighth straight loss on JRU.

It was a sorry loss for the Bombers, who had the Chiefs backed to a corner for most of the game. Before his foul on Sera-Josef, Padua capped a JRU run that had the Bombers digging a 62-74 hold for the Chiefs.

But Archie Concepcion scored on a pair of three-point plays to spark Arellano’s comeback before Sera-Josef nailed the big shot to highlight the Chief’s game-ending 14-0 run.

“Whatever it takes,” noted a relieved Codiñera when asked about his Chiefs resorting more to the long ball than an inside game. “Whatever the defense gives us [we’ll take it].”

The win gave Arellano a 3-3 slate in Group B while JRU, which got a huge game from Jed Mendoza (15 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists), fell to 0-8.

Guilmer Dela Torre led AU with 15 points while Sera-Josef finished with 14.

In other matches, Adamson used a sustained attack from start to finish en route to an 80-60 dismantling of St. Benilde.

The Falcons clamped down on the Blazers’ passing game and interior attack to take an early 13-2 lead in the first seven minutes of the match.

Sean Manganti led the Falcons with 17 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, as Adamson joined FEU and St. Benilde at the top of the Group B standings with similar 5-1 records.

“We were motivated to get back at CSB as we lost in a practice game a few weeks ago,” noted Adamson head coach Franz Pumaren, who faced his former player, TY Tang, who is now the Blazers’ head coach. “That has been what we have been trying to enforce—sustained defensive effort. And we got it done.”

Jerome Lastimosa and Jerrick Ahanmisi backstopped Manganti’s efforts with 13 and 11, respectively.