MANILA, Philippines — Jose Rizal University survived Mapua, 65-64, Saturday night in the opening day of NCAA Season 88 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
John Lopez split his free throws that gave the Heavy Bombers the slim edge with 39.2 ticks left before the Cardinals missed two chances to win the game.
“Perhaps my players played too tight. It’s a tough win. We just got lucky but I haven’t seen the real JRU,” said head coach Vergel Meneses. “We didn’t see the aggressiveness on our defense luckily the last six minutes of the game we were able to play defense.”
Kenneth Ighalo found it too deep to hit a short stab as time expired.
Lopez had 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Rookie point guard Andrew Estrella came through with 22 points to offset his six turnovers in a losing cause for the Cardinals.