San juan: College of St. Benilde (CSB) averted a late meltdown as Mapua just fell short of forcing overtime and was dethroned as National Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball champion with a 72-74 knockout quarterfinal defeat on Friday at the Playtime FilOil Centre in San Juan City.
According to Philippines News Agency, blowing a 16-point halftime lead and even letting the Cardinals lead, 63-62, midway through the fourth quarter, the Blazers went on a 10-1 run behind baskets from Shawn Umali and Ian Torres to take a 72-64 lead with 2:08 left.
Cyril Gonzales, though, scored on a layup and assisted on Cyrus Cuenco's three that cut the lead back to three, 72-69, with exactly one minute to go. Allen Liwag kept CSB afloat after beating the shot clock buzzer with a follow-up layup that upped his team's lead back to five, 74-69, with 23.1 seconds to go.
However, JC Recto hit an off-the-glass three that put the lead back down to two with 13.6 seconds to go, and his fellow Mapuans forced a turnover at the other end. Recto had his golden chance to send the game to overtime, but he missed two free throws, and Nitura misfired a corner jumper off the offensive rebound.
Raffy Celis, who stepped up for the Blazers with Liwag and Umali not having solid offensive games, secured the game-saving rebound. Celis finished with 18 points, five rebounds, three assists, and one steal for CSB, which will play San Beda in the Final 4 on Tuesday. Torres added 12 points, two rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Recto also had 18 markers with five rebounds, one assist, and one steal for Mapua, which dearly missed Clint Escamis in the last nine minutes of the game after he was whistled for a disqualifying foul.
Meanwhile, Letran completed the full cancellation of Arellano's twice-to-beat advantage with a 77-69 Game 2 win to also move on to the semifinals. Just like in Game 1, the Knights weathered a solid first quarter from the Chiefs and banked on a 22-11 second quarter to seize control of the rubber match for good.
Jimboy Estrada led Letran, which will play Perpetual Help in the best-of-three Final Four round beginning Tuesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, with 19 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Kevin Santos added 15 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks. T-Mc Ongotan carried the fight for Arellano with 23 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and four steals, but he committed six turnovers.
