Letran, JRU arrange showdown for No. 2

Letran and Jose Rizal shackled their respective rivals with tough defense and fashioned out crucial victories to arrange a showdown for the No. 2 spot and the twice-to-beat edge in the Final Four of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Astrodome.

The Knights thwarted the Mapua Cardinals with their unforgiving full-court press to post a 62-52 win while the Bombers made key stops and crucial shots down the stretch to eke out a 57-53 victory over the San Sebastian Stags in the first of two sets of playoffs for the coveted berth.

The Knights and the Bombers dispute the No. 2 slot tomorrow in a virtual best-of-three since they will also meet in the Final Four.

The Stags and the Cardinals, on the other hand, slug it out for the fourth and last semis berth and the right to face No. 1 San Beda.

“It’s nice to be back in the Final Four,” said Letran coach Louie Alas, who steered the Muralla-based school title romps in 2003 and 2005.

Jose Rizal built leads of as many as 17 points in the fourth quarter but the Stags refused to give up and battled back to within four.

But the Bombers hung tough in the clutch with crucial defensive gems and making key baskets to frustrate the Stags.

“We were able to stop their three-point shooters and took away their perimeter game,” said Jose Rizal coach Ariel Vanguardia.

The Bombers did limit the Stags to just five attempts from behind the arc with the latter failing to convert any.

Letran main man RJ Jazul was held scoreless for the first time in the season but made up for the slack by playing hard-nosed defense on top Mapua gunners.

The streak-shooting Jazul, who missed all his 10 attempts, including six from the three-point area, plucked a game-high 12 rebounds and dished out five assists and finished with one steal.

“That’s what I like about RJ, he can contribute in different ways not just in scoring,” said Alas.

Jose Rizal’s win thus avenged a pair of heartbreaking losses to the Stags in the elimination round in games which they dominated only to falter in the end.

This time, however, the Bombers rode the pressure to clinch the all-important win.

“We lost three of our last four games and we haven’t beaten San Sebastian this year, but we kept the faith and never lost hope,” said Vanguardia.

In juniors’ action, Jose Rizal outlasted La Salle-Greenhills, 95-89, in overtime to set up a knockout duel with Letran tomorrow for the right to meet three-peat champion San Sebastian in a best-of-three finale.

Joshua Saret fired 31 points, including seven triples, while MVP race leader Keith Agovida, who scored 82 points in an elimination round game against Mapua, scattered 23 points.

Ahead, 51-34, four minutes gone in the final quarter, Jose Rizal’s shooting turned sour as San Sebastian came away with a big 15-2 attack to close to within four, 49-53, with less than two minutes remaining in the contest.