JRU rips Lyceum, checks skid

MANILA, Philippines - Jose Rizal University finally displayed the finishing kick needed in a tight match, repulsing Lyceum, 74-68, to arrest a harrowing three-game skid in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Heavy Bombers held off the Pirates in the final 32.7 seconds as Jeckster Apinan came through with two steals and Alex Almario scored four points to close it out with a 6-2 windup and post their first triumph in nearly one month.

“It’s just a matter of finishing the game. In our last three games, we were always outplayed by our opponents at endgame,” said JRU coach Vergel Meneses, whose wards improved to 3-5, just half a game behind their victim (4-5).

The Bombers came into the game with a positive outlook despite yielding their three previous assignments to San Beda (69-77), St. Benilde (77-78) and Perpetual (77-79).

“Before the match, I told them to just forget about the last seven games and just look at this as the start of the season for us,” said Meneses in Filipino. “The sting from those losses eased up with this win.”

Nat Matute posted a game-high 23 points, hitting three of his five triples in the fourth quarter that helped JRU post a 67-62 lead.

In the other game, Mapua blew a 10-point lead but hung on to a 65-63 triumph over Perpetual Help to snap a two-game skid.

“This is a very important game for us so whether it’s two points, 10 points or 20 points (winning margin), a win is a win, I’ll still take it,” said Mapua coach Chito Victolero whose wards improved to 3-6.

The Cardinals raced to a 57-47 lead with 7:12 left. But the Altas fought back to within 63-65 and got a chance to either tie or steal it when they forced Mapua to a 24-second shot clock violation with still 2.4 seconds left.

Jet Vidal, however, missed his triple try for Perpetual (1-7), allowing MIT to escape with the victory.