College of St. Benilde pounced on an undermanned Mapua side and scored an 87-76 victory to remain in the Final Four hunt in the 90th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City on Monday.
Jonathan Grey sizzled with 19 points while Juan Paolo Taha and Pons Saavedra chipped in 13 apiece. But it was Luis Sinco's 11-point third quarter explosion that sparked the decisive run in helping seal the Blazers their 11th win against six losses.
St. Benilde will gun for another win against an eliminated Letran on Wednesday to clinch at least a playoff for a final four spot.
"All our efforts will be futile if we can't beat Letran in our next game," said St. Benilde coach Gabby Velasco.
Mapua seems to be okay despite playing with only seven players in Exeqiel Biteng, Justin Serrano, Jerome Canaynay, Jessie Saitanan, Joseph Eriobu, Andrew Estrella and Jeson Cantos after the rest were either suspended or injured at least in the first half.
But the Cardinals, who forfeited their last two outings going into this game, lost steam in the third when a Sinco-led Blazers run broke the game wide open.
The Cardinals fell to 4-14.
In the second game, Jose Rizal University kept its place in the top four after defeating San Sebastian, 82-77. Sharpshooter Philip Paniamogan led the Heavy Bombers with 24 points. — Photos by Jeff Venancio
The scores:
St. Benilde 87- Grey 19, Taha 13, Saavedra 13, Sinco 11, Romero 6, Bartolo 6, Ongteco 4, Jonson 2, Nayve 2, Argamino 2, Flores 2, Altamirano 2, Pajarillaga 0, Mercado 0, Deles 0
Mapua 76- Biteng 23, Serrano 17, Canaynay 12, Saitanan 11, Eriobu 8, Estrella 3, Cantos 2
Quarters: 15-9; 37-33; 66-52; 87-76
Second Game
Jose Rizal 82- Paniamogan 24, Benavides 13, Mabulac 13, Teodoro 10, Asuncion 10, Abdul Wahab 6, Sanchez 3, Grospe 3, Astilla 0, Lasquety 0, Balagtas 0
San Sebastian 77- Ortuoste 22, Camasura 13, Perez 13, Guinto 9, Dela Cruz 7, Balucanag 7, Yong 4, Aquino 2, Calisaan 0, Fabian 0, Santos 0
Quarters: 22-11; 37-32; 69-55; 82-77
