By Kevin Estrada
Mapua displayed near-perfect dominance as it defeated JRU, 88-81 at the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at the FilOil-EcoOil Centre in San Juan on Sunday afternoon.
The Cardinals took control from the start, with five players scoring in double digits, tying Letran for second place with identical 5-2 records.
Reigning MVP Clint Escamis led Mapua with 19 points, while Lawrence Mangubat contributed a season-best 16 points, five rebounds, and two steals.
Forward Chris Hubilla scored 15 points, with 10 of those points coming in the opening quarter. His performance helped Mapua establish a 14-point lead, which they maintained throughout the game. At one point, they even had a 23-point lead (42-19) after a fastbreak layup by Marc Igliane in the second period.
Despite a late rally by JRU in the second half, they could only come within five points (66-71) in the early stages of the fourth quarter on a three-pointer by Joshua Guiab.
Guiab finished with 17 points for JRU, which now shares a 2-5 record and is in a three-way tie at the bottom of the standings with Arellano and San Sebastian.
The scores:
MAPUA 88 – Escamis 19, Mangubat 16, Hubilla 15, Cuenco 13, Bancale 10, Jabonete 4, Igliane 4, Concepcion 4, Garcia 3, Ryan 0, Fermin 0, Agemenyi 0, Pantaleon 0
JRU 81 – Guiab 17, Panapanaan 15, Pangilinan 12, Raymundo 11, Argente 11, Benitez 4, Garcia 4, Mosqueda 2, Barrera 2, De Leon 1, Ramos 0, Samontanes 0, Sarmiento 0, Ferrer 0
Quarter scores: 32-18, 57-41, 71-57, 88-81
Images courtesy of NCAA Media Bureau
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