Mapua halts Acidre, Arellano for back-to-back wins

MANILA, Philippines — Mapua completely shut down Rocky Acidre and Arellano in the payoff period to hack out a 68-49 triumph Thursday in the 88th NCAA seniors’ basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

The Cardinals, who are picking up their game along with their second straight win, pulled away when they held the Chief to just three points in the last period and halting Acidre’s downpour.

Bigman Mike Parala got into the groove to restore order for Mapua and wound up with monster digits of 20 points, 13 rebounds and three swats.

Jonathan and Gab Banal chipped in with 16 and 10 markers, in that order, for the Cardinals who improved to 4-5.

The diminutive Acidre, who exploded with 16 of his 20 points in the third quarter where Arellano zoomed to within a basket, hit a funk and went scoreless in the fourth.

Arellano continued to display inconsistency and reeled to its sixth setback with three victories.