GAMES THURSDAY (San Juan Arena)
4 p.m.—Mapua vs Arellano
6 p.m.—San Beda vs Letran
BRANDON Porter of JRU gets sandwiched by brothers Junjun and Kevin Alas of Letran. August dela Cruz
Jose Rizal bounced back from a miserable outing to crush Letran, 101-83, yesterday and keep its lofty place in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena.
The Heavy Bombers took control in the second quarter and roared to their seventh win in nine games as they showed little effect of the embarrassing 62-37 loss they absorbed from San Beda last Aug. 4.
“I just told them to just compete with yourself,” said Jose Rizal coach Vergel Meneses. “And tonight they showed a big fighting heart and maybe they were also trying to prove themselves after that loss to San Beda.”
“Nobody expected us to be here, but now that we are at 7-2 I told them that now is the time to be more focused because anything can happen in the second round,” added Meneses.
Bryron Villarias scattered 29 points and Nat Matute had 25 as spearheads of a sizzling offense that gave the Bombers a 79-56 lead early in the fourth quarter. Jose Rizal took the half at 48-38.
“I have always been looking forward to the both of them taking charge,” said Meneses. “Tonight it happened.”
Kevin Alas shot a game-high 31 points for the Knights, who committed 24 errors and went down to their fourth loss in eight games. Adding to the Knights’ woes was the continued absence of Raymond Almazan, who has not played the past four games for unknown reasons.
The scores:
First Game
JOSE RIZAL 101—Villarias 29, Matute 25, Carampil 12, Lopez 12,
Almario 9, Mabulac 4, Camasura 4, Dela Paz 3, Mendoza 2, Salaveria 1,
Porter 0.
LETRAN 83—Ke Alas 31, Racal 15, Cortes 15, Cruz 14, Kr Alas 4,
Lituania 2, Gabawan 2, Luib 0, Almario 0, Belorio 0.
Quarters: 19-17, 48-38, 74-54, 101-83