Red Lions, Cardinals triumph in NCAA basketball

General

Manila: Yukien Andrada drilled five triples in San Beda University's 57-53 victory over University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, 57-53, in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Season 100 men's basketball at FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City on Friday. Andrada finished with 21 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal for the defending champion Red Lions, who also prevailed, 63-62, in their first-round encounter. Bismarck Lina contributed nine points, six rebounds and two assists, while Jomel Puno had eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals for San Beda which improved to 8-4 for solo third. 'It's probably our defense in the second quarter. We limited them to seven points, that's what fueled our offense and got Yuki open,' San Beda coach Yuri Escueta said after the match. Rookie Mark Gojo Cruz scored 14 points, including three triples, to go with six rebounds, three assists and two steals for Perpetual, which slid to sixth place at 5-7. Jearico Nuñez added 11 poi nts and five rebounds, while Christian Pagaran had 10 points for the Altas. In the other game, rookie Chris Hubilla produced 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists as Mapua University downed Letran, 86-78. The Cardinals improved to 9-3 for second place, behind the College of Saint Benilde Blazers (9-2). James Miller and Kobe Monje chipped in 14 points each for the Knights, who absorbed their third straight loss to join the Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates in fourth place at 6-5. Source: Philippines News agency