Chiefs victorious but lose vital big man; Cards also score

Justin Araña scores on a reverse layup despite heavy pressure. He was wheeled off the court late in the contest. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Mapua and Arellano, sides that were on rough patches the past few seasons, hacked out similar tight wins over separate opponents on Sunday to fire up their respective bids in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament at La Salle Greenhills Gym.

The Cardinals banked on a big 22-7 windup engineered by Carl Lacap and Warren Bonifacio to defeat the Emilio Aguinaldo Generals, 73-67, as they began their chase of the title they last won two straight years from 1991.

Lacap made all of his 14 points in the fourth period, while Bonifacio made eight in the same stretch to breathe life into the Cardinals, who trailed, 60-51, with seven minutes left.

The duo picked up the slack after Renz Nocum, who exploded with 20 points in the first half, turned cold in the final two quarters.

Earlier, the Chiefs also got their campaign off on the right foot despite a leg injury to 6-foot-5 slot man Justin Araña after downing the San Sebastian Stags, 65-63.

The win wasn’t without an accompanying misfortune. The lumbering center landed his right foot across on Jessie Somoda in a rebound jostle with a minute and 44 seconds left.

He had to be wheeled out on a stretcher with a makeshift splint on his right knee.

‘Hope it’s not serious’

“He got too tired, maybe his calf gave in,” said Arellano coach Cholo Martin in Filipino. “Hopefully, it’s not serious because we need him.”

The 22-year-old Araña, who transferred from University of Santo Tomas, turned in the numbers for the Chiefs: 16 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks while providing the important inside presence that makes Arellano a serious threat for the title in this pandemic-era season.

Martin said they will find out the extent of the injury by end of the day, but he’s hoping it’s just the weary calf muscles—which laid idle during the lockdown the past two years—that got the Camariñes Norte native out of commission.

“That’s why when he left, the players really talked among themselves what to do. Fortunately we got the breaks,” added the Arellano mentor.

Jordan Sta. Ana wound up with 14 points, while Sebastian Valencia and Raymart Sablan added nine and eight, respectively, to help Arellano’s cause.

“Like everyone else, we are also groping for form. We didn’t have any tuneup game,” said Martin. “Good thing we made key adjustments.”

The Stags actually doomed themselves by failing to execute when they needed to as top guys JM Calma and Itchy Altamirano were non-entities in the stretch when the Chiefs made a run.

That was after the duo helped the Stags build a 50-36 lead late in the third. INQ