Arellano bucks absence of key players, nips Letran

Arellano bucked the absence of four key players due to foul trouble by escaping past Letran, 78-76, to snap a two-game skid in the 86th NCAA men's basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

In a tightly-officiated game, undersized center Gerald Lapuz and John Tayongtong stepped up big time as the Chiefs were able to snatch the win against the Knights to end the first round with three wins and five losses. Letran fell to 2-5 for sixth spot. Lapuz scored a season-high 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Tayongtong tallied 13 markers, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals. He also made 5-of-6 foul shots in the final two minutes to seal the win for the Legarda-based squad. Arellano, which trailed by 15 points in the first quarter before making a huge comeback in the second period, bounced back from two crushing losses to unbeaten teams San Beda and San Sebastian. The Chiefs blew a 12-point halftime lead in a 92-57 defeat to the Red Lions while lost steam in the second half on Wednesday that led to a 69-58 victory for the defending champion Stags. "We were like losing steam in the second half during our past games," said coach Leo Isaac, who beat Letran for the first time since 2008 as coach of the Mapua Cardinals. Arellano won despite losing Lapuz, Vergel Zulueta, Rocky Acidre and Isiah Ciriacruz to fouls but it was Tayongtong who bailed the Chiefs out of trouble. With fans chanting his name with gusto, the Chiefs' second-year guard broke a 73-all tie with barely two minutes left then made two free throws for a 77-73 advantage with 1:06 to go. Letran's Kevin Alas, in his first game back from a knee contusion, made two free throws to cut the lead. Letran had a chance to tie the game when Tayongtong made a turnover with 22 ticks left. Alas made 13 points but muffed 15 of his 18 shots from the field Jam Cortes drew a foul on Lapuz with seven seconds to go but split his charities for a 77-76 count. In the next play, Tayongtong also went 1-of-2 at the free throw line to give Arellano a 78-76 margin to two and Letran's Franz Dysam failed to throw the basket at the buzzer. "We told him (Tayongtong) that he used be the one who is getting the playing time because he's a veteran," said Isaac. "I'm glad that he was able to release those hidden talents he had before." While Tayongtong started, it was a breakthrough performance from Lapuz, a transferee from the now-defunct Asian College of Science and Technology of the UCAA and NCRAA. Not known for being a scorer, Lapuz scored 19 points in between the second and third periods off fastbreak plays and drop passes from his teammates as the Chiefs turned a 31-15 deficit into a 45-38 halftime lead after holding the Knights to seven markers. Lapuz shot 12-of-14 from the field including one three-pointer. "He's really a player who can contribute and it's no surprise that he played like this. Maybe he can get that recognition that he deserves," said Isaac, whose Chiefs' faced Lapuz as a role player for ACSAT during their NCRAA stint. Arellano guard Andrian Celada added 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists while Zulueta finished with nine markers to also help the Chiefs shot 57 percent (26-of-46) from the field. The Chiefs also won the rebounding battle, 42-31. Dysam had 19 points, four rebounds and two assists for Letran but scored just two in the second half while Jonathan Belorio made 12 markers including a three-pointer with 8:08 left that put the Knights up 65-62. – JVP, GMANews.TV