JRU, SBC warm up for tough grind

MANILA, Philippines - Jose Rizal and San Beda stayed in equal footing at second place heading into the homestretch of the 85th NCAA basketball tournament with victories over separate opponents yesterday at The Arena in San Juan.

JRU held off Angeles U, 85-81, while SBC whipped St. Benilde, 66-54, as the Heavy Bombers and Red Lions braced themselves up for crucial games in the final week of elims play.

The Bombers and the Lions remained tied at second with identical 14-2 win-loss records, fighting neck and neck for a twice-to-beat incentive in the Final Four.

Jose Rizal has San Sebastian and Emilio Aguinaldo College as its last two assignments while San Beda has to contend with Letran and San Sebastian.

At 15-0, San Sebastian still needs one more win to guarantee itself of a twice-to-beat incentive.

Marvin Hayes, along with James Sena and John Wilson, delivered the clutch baskets that helped the Bombers weather the Great Danes’ surprising tough stand. Hayes finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.

AUF fell short in its upset bid, suffering a 15th loss against a lone victory.

Mark Carney stood at the forefront of AUF’s futile bid, finishing with a game-high 19 points.

“We need to win this game badly. We need to bounce back from our loss to JRU the last time to stay in the thick of the fight for the top two,” said San Beda coach Frankie Lim.

Garvo Lanete and Sudan Daniel exerted extra efforts in the absence of Bambam Gamalinda and JR Taganas as the Lions rebounded from their 13-point loss to the Bombers last Wednesday.