By Ivan Saldajeno
SAN JUAN, MM--Malayan locked in the other twice-to-beat advantage come the NCAA juniors basketball semifinals in the penultimate day of the elimination round at the FilOil Flying V Centre on Monday.
The Red Robins secured the second seed after walloping the La Salle-Greenhills Greenies, 75-59, hours after the San Beda Red Cubs tripped the Arellano Braves, 92-74.
Brian Licap had with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting with three rebounds, two assists, and one steal to lead Malayan to the romp of LSGH.
Troy Mallinllin tallied 16 points, nine rebounds, and one assist for LSGH.
In the other marquee match-up, Evan Nelle followed up on his endgame explosion against LSGH that earned him Player of the Week honors with a 19-point, four-rebound, five-assist, and one-steal performance as San Beda avenged its lone regular season loss to Arellano.
Sam Abu Hiljeh tallied a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds with two blocks to backstop Nelle.
Guilmer Dela Torre had 20 points, three rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block for Arellano, which will face LSGH in a playoff for the third seed in the Final Four. The winner will take on Malayan, while the other squad will battle San Beda in the next round.
In the other games, Lyceum ended its Season 92 stint on a high note with a 76-72 win over Perpetual Help, ICA trounced San Sebastian, 81-74, and JRU stunned Letran, 61-54.
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