Guillian Quines pressed the takeover button to help De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde - La Salle Green Hills survive a tough Mapua University, 76-73, and return to its winning ways in the NCAA Season 100 juniors basketball tournament on Sunday at the EAC Gym in Manila.
The Greenies wasted a 10-point lead, but Quines displayed composure down the stretch to help the school improve to 2-1 after falling to Perpetual last Wednesday. The Red Robins, who were coming off an upset overtime victory against defending champion Letran, fell to a 1-2 card.
Quines dropped 15 of his 17 points in the second half, including nine in the crucial fourth quarter, while also grabbing five rebounds, five assists, and two steals while Ram Sharma flirted with a double-double of 13 markers, nine boards, two dimes, and two blocks.
LSGH stepped on the gas in the third, building a lead as high as 57-47, before Mapua mounted a fightback that saw the two teams in a 60-all deadlock early in the fourth.
Quines then completed a jumper and sank a pair of free throws to give his side a 68-63 cushion. Mapua, though, answered with a 6-0 rampage capped by an Allan Laurenaria layup off a Froilan Reyes' dish as they regained a 69-68 lead.
But Quines proved to be clutch after knocking down back-to-back baskets before Arle Podador split his freebies for a 73-69 advantage for Mapua. The Red Robins tried to rally anew with Reyes shooting a long two-pointer to cut it to a 73-75 deficit in the final 12.4 seconds.
Quines then shot one of his two charities off a Ruzzel Del Poso foul to put the seal.
In the first game, Emilio Aguinaldo College defended its home court by pulling off a 93-84 win against the struggling Lyceum of the Philippines University.
Ian Cuajao went into beast mode after dropping a game-high 30 points on an impressive 8-on13 shooting from downtown while EJ Castillo and Adrian Lanceta poured 17 and 12 markers apiece as the Brigadiers improved to 2-1.
The Junior Pirates dropped to a 0-3 record despite the effort of Zyren Panerio and Jericho Abrantes after they registered 19 and 17 points, respectively.
Scores:
First Game:
EAC 93 – Cuajao 30, Castillo 17, Lanceta 12, Canonigo 8, Coronel 8, Castillo 6, Luna 4, Bonus 4, Tecson 4, Iraham 0, Campana 0, Bautista 0, Lumbo 0, Razo 0, Jawali 0.
LPU 84 – Panerio 19, Abrantes 17, Dag-um 14, Pelayo 8, Poli 7, Julio 6, Creus 4, Conde 4, Enguio 2, Mercado 2, Melchor 1, Lontok 0, Omelio 0, Nolado 0.
Quarters: 24-14, 48-35, 76-45, 93-84.
Second Game:
Benilde-LSGH 76 – Quines 17, Sharma 13, Podador 11, Gomez 9, Ison 8, Peralta 8, Ortega 5, Hizon 2, Yutuc 2, Osis 1, Gonzales 0, Abad 0.
Mapua 73 – Laurenaria 14, Duque 11, Reyes 10, Miranda 8, Salvador 8, Banal 8, Del Poso 7, Rodriguez 3, Catapang 2, Bagro 2, Loriaga 0 Gragasin 0.
Quarters: 17-18, 39-37, 59-52, 76-73.
—JKC, GMA Integrated News
