Mangubat takes flight as Cardinals escape Pirates for semis spot
Games Wednesday
(Filoil EcoOil Arena)
11 a.m. - Letran vs EAC
2:30 p.m. - UPHSD vs CSB
MANILA, Philippines — Lawrence Mangubat took charge late in the fourth quarter as Mapua survived a furious Lyceum of the Philippines University fight back with a 69-68 victory Tuesday to advance to the NCAA Season 100 Final Four at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.
The sweet-shooting rookie guard ended up leading his team with 16 points, half of which came in the final period when the Cardinals survived the Pirates’ pillaging and snared an 11th win in 14 outings, which was enough to seal it a semis seat.
It also gave leader St. Benilde (11-2) a Final Four berth on a silver platter.
Mangubat’s wrath was felt most in the dying seconds when he scored five points in a hurry—a jumper that knotted it at 66 with 21 ticks left and a triple with five seconds remaining that gave Mapua the lead for good.
While Mangubat served as the fireman that extinguished the fourth quarter fire, Chris Hubilla, Marc Cuenco and team captain Clint Escamos did most of the dirty job and finished with 14, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The win also bolstered Mapua’s bid to finish in the top two and clinch the precious twice-to-beat incentive that goes with it.
But the win almost slipped away as Mapua watched its once mighty 16-point lead late in the third canto vanish amid the fourth-quarter maelstrom whipped up by LPU that saw the latter snatching a two-point lead twice.
The last came at 68-66 with five seconds to go when Pirates captain Renz Villegas drilled in a jumper.
Enter Mangubat, whose massive tripled hammered in the final nail in LPU’s coffin.
The Pirates dropped to 6-8.
The Pirates dropped to 6-8.
The scores:
Mapua 69 – Mangubat 16, Hubilla 14, Cuenco 11, Escamis 10, Concepcion 6, Igliane 4, Recto 4, Jabonete 2, Ryan 2, Abdulla 0, Bancale 0, Garcia 0.
LPU 68 – Villegas 22, Montaño 9, Cunanan 8, Aviles 7, Daileg 7, Guadaña 5, Barba 5, Peñafiel 3, Versoza 2, Caduyac 0, Moralejo 0.
Quarterscores: 18-12; 28-25; 54-40; 69-68.
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