MANILA, Philippines—Mapua foiled De La Salle’s quarterfinals bid, 67-61, Monday night to end its campaign on a bright note in the 2012 FilOil Flying V Preseason Hanes Cup at the Arena in San Juan.
Mike Parala flourished in the clutch with back-to-back triples that gave the Cardinals a two-possession lead, 62-58, with 1:12 left.
“Very happy and proud with my players because I challenged them to compete and play hard,” said Mapua head coach Chito Victolero.
“I give credit to our defense and I hope this continues,” added Victolero.
Apart from Mapua’s defense, which held the Green Archers scoreless for three minutes down the stretch, the Cardinals took control of the boards with 53 rebounds against La Salle’s 27.
Parala finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds while Kenneth Ighalo had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
La Salle fell to a three-way tie with Letran and UST at 4-3 in Group A and is in danger of possibly missing out on a quarterfinals slot if both the Tigers and the Knights take care of their last assignments and at the same time the Archers lose.
All three teams will play on June 2. UST will take on UP while Letran and La Salle will have their hands full as they take on their fierce rivals San Beda and Ateneo respectively.
Norbert Torres was the Green Archer to notch double-figures in points with 10.