Cardinals make Generals ouster formal
MANILA, Philippines—Mapua carved out a 74-65 victory over Emilio Aguinaldo College Friday, snuffing out whatever faint hopes the Generals were nursing of making a charge at one of the 86th NCAA basketball tournament Final Four slots.
St. Benilde, still holding on to that mathematical—and little else—chance of crashing what looks like a limited race for a semifinal berth, nipped Arellano in the other game of a senior doubleheader at the FilOil Flying V Arena.
Erwin Cornejo finished with 15 points, six rebounds and five assists as the Cardinals overhauled an early double-digit deficit to claim their seventh win in 11 outings.
Although the obvious was made painfully clear only on Friday, the Generals were no longer in the running for a Final Four slot for quite some time now, a fact highlighted by their now 2-10 record, which is only slightly better than that of the still winless Perpetual Help Altas.
In fact, the Blazers, who nearly blew the game against the Chiefs, have a much better 4-8 card and aren’t officially out of the running for a semifinal appearance just yet. But coach Richard del Rosario admitted to knowing the difference between mathematical chances and reality.
“Mathematically, we have a chance,” said del Rosario. “But it’s already a long shot so we will just remain focused to improve every game.”
With St. Benilde pinning a seventh loss in 11 outing on Arellano, San Sebastian (10-1) achieved what also seemed preordained: Following San Beda (11-0) into the Final Four.
The Cardinals notched their seventh win in 11 outings to stay at fourth place. And it doesn’t look like Mapua will have a tough time guarding the Final Four entrance, considering that it is three games ahead of its closest pursuers.
Still, the Cardinals needed to climb out of a 6-17 deficit early in the game to keep that distance. They held the Generals scoreless for an eight-minute stretch in the second quarter to seize control.
Mapua then built a 17-point spread in the third quarter and the Generals never got closer than nine points.
Mark de Guzman broke out of his shooting slump to fire 19 points, including a split from the foul line with 2.9 seconds remaining to lift the Blazers.
After de Guzman shot an ill-advised triple with 15 seconds left on their shotclock, the Chiefs were handed the opportunity to tie and even take the lead when Jerald Lapuz was fouled with five seconds remaining.
But Lapuz missed both charities and the Chiefs were forced to foul de Guzman, who made 1-of-2.
“It’s a lucky win but we shouldn’t have set ourselves up for that difficult situation in the endgame,” said del Rosario.
Isaiah Ciriacruz, stepping up following the fouling out of teammate Andrian Celada with five minutes left, kept the Chiefs in the game with four straight points that put Arellano within, 69-70, with 28 seconds remaining.
Christian de La Paz had 11 points, including a three-point play that gave the Bombers 69-67 lead with 52.5 seconds left. He also finished with 10 rebounds.
In juniors’ action, Mapua edged EAC, 76-71, to join Jose Rizal at No. 5 with a 6-5 records and remain in the Final Four hunt, while La Salle-Greenhills dumped Arellano U, 69-54, to notch its fifth win against seven setbacks. Photo by Celest Flores
The senior scores
First Game
ST. BENILDE 71—De Guzman 19, Dela Paz 11, Lastimosa 9, Nayve 7, Tan
7, McCoy 4, Wong 4, Argamino 4, Abolucion 3, Sinco 2, Manalac 1, Amin
0.
ARELLANO 69—Celada 24, Ciriacruz 12, Lapuz 8, Zulueta 7, del Rosario
4, Caperal 4, Acidre 4, Anquilo 4, Palma 2.
Quarters: 15-26, 37-34, 56-53, 71-69
Second Game
MAPUA 74—Cornejo 15, Mangahas 12, Guillermo 9, Pascual 8, Sarangay
7, Acosta 7, Stevens 5, Banal 5, Parala 4, Ighalo 2, Ranises 0
EAC 65—Cubo 15, Jamon 14, Vargas 13, Mendoza 10, Lapitan 3, Tuazon
2, R. Yaya 2, L. Yaya 2, Santos 2, Chiong 2, Villegas 0, Diolanto 0.
Quarters: 17-7, 33-23, 59-43, 74-65
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