By Ricky Manliguis
MANILA—With the double-overtime defeat to Arellano still
on its senses, Jose Rizal University led a balanced attack to vent its ire on
Letran, 77-68, to tighten its hold of third place in the team standings of the
NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball Thursday at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San
Juan City.
With another sterling team performance featuring 20 assists,
the Kalentong-based dribblers had a solid first half for a 36-27 advantage.
JRU then pushed the tempo in the third, with Ervin Grospe
and Jed Mendoza conniving on buckets for JRU’s 58-45 cushion at the end of
three quarters.
Letran tried to claw back into the game behind JP Calvo,
but hits from Abdul Razak Abdul Wahab and a off-the-glass triple by Mendoza gave
JRU a 71-58 lead which doused cold water on the uprising.
Grospe and Teodoro both finished with 15 points for the
Bombers, which improved to 7-4 and a half-game edge over idle San Sebastian.
Mendoza added 11 markers while MJ Dela Virgen was the fourth double-digit
hitter with 10.
The loss was the Knight’s third consecutive to fall two
games behind the Bombers at 5-6. Calvo paced the team with 21 points, while Rey
Nambatac followed suit with 14 with eight rebounds and four assists.
Bong Quinto and Jerrick Balanza added 12 and 11 markers,
respectively, for Letran.
The scores:
Jose Rizal 77 - Grospe 15, Teodoro 15, Mendoza 11, Dela Virgen 10,
Lasquety 9, Poutouochi 7, Abdulrazak 6, Sawat 4, Bordon 0, David 0.
Letran 68 - Calvo 21, Nambatac 14, Quinto 12, Balanza 11, Mandreza
6, De Villa 2, Vacaro 2, Balagasay 0, Bernabe 0, Caralipio 0, Gedaria 0,
Pamulaklakin 0, Pascual 0, Taladua 0.
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