San Beda University moved closer to securing a twice-to-beat advantage in the NCAA Season 102 Seniors Basketball Tournament quarterfinals after fending off a late rally from Lyceum of the Philippines University, 71-65, on Thursday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

The defending champions extended their winning streak to four games, improving to a 9-3 record and drawing level with José Rizal University at the top of Group A to remain firmly in contention for the crucial quarterfinal incentive.

The Red Lions also now hold the longest active winning streak in the league.

“I think in the fourth quarter, we displayed our identity in our defense and our rebounding. The game is all about possession, so it’s still about being able to stick together as a team and close out and get that win,” said Dan Marcelo, who finished with a season-high 22 points.

Despite entering the second half trailing, San Beda fought its way back, pulling even at 36-all behind Bismarck Lina before Marcelo and Aldous Torculas sparked a 13-2 run to seize a 49-38 lead.

Lyceum refused to back down, but Torculas’ free throws helped the Red Lions maintain a 53-47 advantage heading into the final quarter.

San Beda stretched its lead to double digits in the fourth before back-to-back triples from Khen Caduyac brought the Pirates within striking distance, 65-60, with 2:41 remaining.

Mclaude Guadaña further trimmed the deficit to just two points, 67-65, with a clutch triple down the stretch, putting the defending champions under pressure.

However, Zed Etulle sank a free throw to restore a two-possession cushion. Andrei Ugaddan and Etulle then each split their trips to the charity stripe to give San Beda a 70-65 lead, forcing Lyceum to foul in the closing seconds.

Kyle Jamora sealed the victory at the free-throw line as the Red Lions survived the Pirates’ late rally to claim their fourth consecutive win.

“We had a sluggish first half, so that led to me hitting shots and being able to facilitate, get my teammates open shots. Just being able to do the little things that our team needed,” Marcelo added, after also tallying six assists and four steals.

Torculas contributed 17 points and nine rebounds for San Beda, while Lina chipped in nine points and 14 rebounds.

San Beda will close out the elimination round with a rematch against College of Saint Benilde on November 10 at the same venue, where it will look to formalize its bid for the twice-to-beat advantage.

Meanwhile, Lyceum, which had already secured a place in the play-in round, dropped to 4-7 and saw its hopes of claiming a twice-to-beat advantage disappear. The Pirates are now locked into fifth place regardless of the outcome of their final elimination-round assignment.

Matthew Rubico paced LPU with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds, along with five assists, while Jonathan Daileg added 11 points in the losing effort.

The Pirates will wrap up their campaign against their eventual play-in opponents, Mapúa University, on November 9 at the PhilSports Arena.

The Scores:

San Beda 71 — Marcelo 22, Torculas 17, Lina 9, Puno 8, Jamora 4, Etulle 4, Ugaddan 3, Calimag 3, Sarigumba 1, Bonzalida 0, Reyes 0, Estacio 0, Jalbuena 0, Efron 0, Hawkins 0.

Lyceum 65 — Rubico 14, Daileg 11, Guadaña 9, Ondoa 7, Caduyac 6, Villegas 6, Matienzo 4, Peñafiel 3, Fuentes 3, Manuel 2, Aurigue 0, Panelo 0, Pallingayan 0, Cardinas 0, Nocum 0.

Quarterscores: 20-9, 31-33, 53-47, 71-65.

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By: Joaquin Cortez

Jose Rizal University climbed to the top of the Group of Death standings after withstanding Mapúa University, 71-58, in the NCAA Season 102 Seniors Basketball Tournament on Tuesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.

With the victory, the Heavy Bombers overtook defending champion San Beda University and College of Saint Benilde to claim sole possession of first place in Group A with a 9-3 record. The win also secured JRU at least a quarterfinals berth with one game remaining, while ensuring that the three teams occupied the top three spots in the standings.

Meanwhile, Mapúa dropped to 6-6 and will have to secure its quarterfinals berth through the play-in round.

The first three quarters saw both teams trade leads before JRU finally broke away in the fourth, unleashing a decisive 15-3 run.

Lawrence Mangubat sparked the surge by completing a four-point play, giving the Heavy Bombers some breathing room at 56-52.

After Yam Concepcion stole an inbound pass from Mangubat, the Cardinals forward hesitated in the paint and committed a costly turnover of his own, allowing Jahmir Eligado to finish a fast-break layup and extend JRU’s lead to 59-52.

Mapúa continued to struggle down the stretch as Ivan Panapanaan capped the run with a putback off Sean Salvador’s missed attempt, pushing the Heavy Bombers’ advantage to 63-52 with just over five minutes remaining.

JRU then put the finishing touches on its victory after another costly Mapúa turnover led to Jhillian Palis drilling a midrange jumper with 46 seconds left to give the Heavy Bombers their biggest lead of the game, 71-55.

JRU will look to secure the top spot in the Group A standings when it faces College of Saint Benilde on Friday, November 6, at 5:00 p.m. at the same venue.

Meanwhile, Mapúa will try to end the round on a positive note against Lyceum of the Philippines University on Monday, November 9, at 3:00 p.m. at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.

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Converge moved a win away from advancing to the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup semifinals following a 105-89 rout of Rain or Shine in Game 3 of their quarters series at the City of Dasmarinas Arena in Cavite, Tuesday night.

The FiberXers took the lead for good late in the third quarter after staring at a 64-56 deficit, before running away wide in the deciding period en route to winning their second straight game to build a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 battle.

Coach Delta Pineda and his charges could close it out in Game 4 this Friday, November 6, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, which if they do would bring the young franchise to its very first appearance in the ‘Final Four.’

Converge did it by committee again to get ahead, with Juan Gomez de Liano leading the way with 19 points alongside 13 rebounds and six assists.

The lefty star had a hand in the third-quarter turnaround, helping out in the 12-0 run that was sparked by Alec Stockton to erase the aforementioned eight-point lead of the Elasto Painters and turn it to a 68-64 lead with 5:31 on the clock.

He’d go on to help keep themselves ahead the rest of the way, highlighted by a fadeaway jumper against the bigger Aaron Fuller to push their lead to 101-81 with 3:54 left to play before pulling off the ‘Night, Night’ celebration.

Cam Clark finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Justine Baltazar made 15 points and six boards. Jonnel Policarpio made 13 points, all of which he made in the first half, on top of seven rebounds and three steals.

Calvin Abueva scored 13 as well and collected 10 rebounds, while Justin Arana fell just short of notching a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds.

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