Ruzzel Del Poso lit up from beyond the arc as Mapua University pulled off an upset overtime victory against Colegio de San Juan de Letran, 81-73, in the NCAA Season 100 juniors basketball tournament on Wednesday.
Del Poso erupted for nine three-pointers, including the overtime-forcing triple, to finish with a 31-point outing, five rebounds, and two assists while Sean Salvador strung together a double-double effort of 15 markers and 10 boards alongside four assists as the Red Robins improved to 1-1.
Mapua crawled back from a 45-30 halftime deficit and made it a one-point affair at 47-48 before Daniel Padilla took over for the Squires and led a 10-2 run to close the third period as Letran regained a 58-49 cushion.
Syrex Silorio hit a triple that gave Letran 68-65 lead in the final moments, but Mapua refused to give up as Del Poso answered with a long bomb of his own to drag the defending champions into overtime.
It was all Mapua in the extra period with Salvador and Yuri Duque starting the offense for a 73-68 lead. The two then ended what they started, hitting two free throws each to wield the upset ax against the three-peat seeking Squires.
Earlier, Jose RIzal University overcame some late game lapses to eke out a narrow 67-64 win against Lyceum of the Philippines University and enter the win column of the tournament.
The Light Bombers banked on the troika of James Almario, Lee Marin, and AJ Lacusong to turn back the Junior Pirates and bounce back from an opening day loss to Arellano University last Monday.
Almario poured in 16 points while both Marin and Lacusong chipped in 12 markers with the latter also grabbing eight rebounds and two steals.
Lacusong caught an and-one play but missed out on the free throw before Almario split his charities, giving JRU a slim 63-58. But LPU trimmed it to a solitary deficit after big man Steven Creus completed a layup and sank one freebie for a 63-62 affair in the final 1:46.
Almario was then called for a traveling violation while Lacusong muffed an open layup that gave LPU an opportunity to tie or get the lead back. Fortunately for the Light Bombers, LPU also missed out as Lacusong knocked down four straight free throws to seal the victory even if Cleafford Dag-um hit a three-pointer at the buzzer.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
