Red-hot Mapua survives Perpetual scare for 6th straight win; JRU dominates Arellano 

MANILA, Philippines – The red-hot Mapua Cardinals made it six wins in a row in the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball tournament after surviving a gutsy challenge from the Perpetual Help Altas, 62-61, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Saturday, October 21. 

Mac Cuenco and JC Recto stepped up for Mapua with 13 and 12 points, respectively, as Cardinals standouts Clint Escamis and Paolo Hernandez both struggled mightily on the offensive end.   

Escamis, the reigning NCAA Player of the Week, shot just 4-of-15 from the field to wind up with 10 points, while Hernandez converted on only three of his 15 attempts to finish with 8 markers.

Escamis and Hernandez made up for their shooting woes in the rebounding department as they both grabbed 11 boards to help Mapua secure its eighth win in nine games. 

Meanwhile, the Altas were led by John Abis and Christian Pagaran, who produced 15 points apiece, in the heartbreaking loss.

Perpetual’s Arthur Roque had a golden opportunity to give the Altas the victory after both teams went scoreless in the final 2 minutes and 35 seconds of the tight ball game, but his three-pointer from the right corner rimmed out with just 2 seconds left. 

With the loss, Perpetual dropped its record to 3-6 – tied with the San Sebastian Stags. 

In the second game, the JRU Heavy Bombers closed out the first round with back-to-back wins after rolling past the cellar-dwelling Arellano Chiefs, 88-72. 

Marwin Dionisio powered the Bombers to the wire-to-wire victory with a game-high 21 points on an efficient 9-of-11 shooting. 

Agem Miranda and Shawn Argente added 15 points apiece for JRU, which tied the LPU Pirates at 6-3 in the standings. 

On the other side, Danielle Mallari paced Arellano – which slipped further to a 1-8 slate– with 15 points and 7 rebounds.

The Scores

First Game

Mapua 62 – Cuenco 13, Recto 12, Escamis 10, Hernandez 8, Boniafcio 8, Dalisay 5, Soriano 4, Asuncion 2, Rosillo 0, Igliane 0, Fornis 0.

Perpetual 61 – Abis 15, Pagaran 15, Omega 8, Nitura 6, Roque 5, Nunez 5, Razon 4, Ferreras 3, Orgo 0, Barcuma 0, Gelsano 0.

Quarters: 17-16. 33-35, 49-49, 62-61.

Second Game

JRU 88 – Dionisio 21, Miranda 15, Argente 15, Arenal 8, Guiab 6, delos Santos 5, Sarmiento 5, Ramos 4, de Leon 4, Pabico 3, Medina 2, Sy 0, dela Rosa 0, Barrera 0, Mosqueda 0.

Arellano 72 – Mallari 15, Talampas 14, Capulong 12, Geronimo 11, Ongotan 5, Abastillas 4, Villarente 2, Dayrit 0, Tan 0, dela Cruz 0, Lustina 0.

Quarters: 33-18, 54-36, 67-53, 88-72. 

– Rappler.com