Cardinals, Red Lions clash for solo leadership

Mapua and San Beda collide today in a clash of the leaders even as San Sebastian College tries to stay within striking distance of them when it goes up against winless St. Benilde in the 79th NCAA basketball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The Cardinals and the streaking Red Lions collide at 2 p.m., both hoping to come out of a heavy four-way logjam at the helm with the Jose Rizal Bombers and the Letran Knights with 4-2 records.

Although Mapua is coming off an emphatic 83-63 triumph over St. Benilde last Monday, San Beda becomes the hottest team following a three-game run highlighted by an 80-69 stunning of the three-peat seeking Stags coupled by the surprise loss of Jose Rizal to Philippine Christian University the other day.

"If we can sustain our level of intensity and work harder, we’re definitely going to be hard for other teams to beat us," said San Beda mentor Jonathan Reyes, a former Red Lion.

Reyes will pin his hopes again on the awesome tandem of Jerome Paterno and skipper Arjun Cordero. The 6-foot-4 Paterno, for one, has been dominating the shaded area using his athleticism and quickness while Cordero has been providing the leadership for a team oozing with promising new recruits.

Rookies who have been contributing to San Beda’s cause are Marvin Bughao, Jover Padilla, Francis Cruz, Michael Casino, Alex Angeles, Timothy Ong and Martin Antonio.

But Mapua mentor Horacio Lim has a ready antidote for San Beda — their brand of defense. "We know that San Beda is very hard to beat right now but if we can play tough defense, we have a better chance of beating them."

The three-peat Stags, on the other hand, hopes to rekindle their flickering title hope as they tackle the Blazers, who have yet to pick up a win in six tries at 4 p.m.

San Sebastian is tied with PCU, which surprised Jose Rizal, 69-63, at fifth spot with 3-3 slates.