JRU defeats Mapua, secures No. 3 seed in NCAA Final Four
By Maxine Louise Lagman
10 October 2017
Jose Rizal University clinched a Final Four spot after outlasting Mapua University, 62-58 on Tuesday in the NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
With its fourth straight win, the Heavy Bombers grabbed solo third after improving to an 11-6 card behind Lyceum and San Beda, which have already clinched their own spots in the Final Four. Meanwhile, Mapua dropped to a 3-13 slate.
Despite the win, coach Vergel Meneses admitted he was not happy about the way his team played.
“Honestly I’m not happy about the win, because they didn’t want to follow my instructions. They thought we can beat them all on offense,” said Meneses.
JRU’s defense lacked when needed the most in the crucial last quarter that Mapua took advantage of it to make a 5-0 run as Andoy Estrella capped it off with two freebies and cut the lead to two, 58-56, with 4:38 left.
However, Ervin Grospe and Jed Mendoza led the Heavy Bombers to gain momentum once again as they scored back-to-back baskets to keep the win for themselves.
Tey Teodoro led JRU with 19 points, while Mendoza chipped in 10 markers, three boards and three dimes.
Abdul Sawat added nine points and seven rebounds, while Abdulwahab Abdulrazak hauled down 17 rebounds along with two points in the win.
The Heavy Bombers will have to improve their game and focus on better defense and offense s they will take on the league-leading Lyceum Pirates as their final elimination game on Friday.
Almel Orquino, on the other hand, paced Mapua with 14 points and three rebounds, while Cedric Pelayo added 11 points and five rebounds in the losing effort.
