Basketball
JRU rallies to keep Mapua winless
The JRU Heavy Bombers kept the Mapua Cardinals winless thanks to the biggest comeback in the early moments of the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Down 18 points in the third quarter, JRU rallied in the fourth quarter to a score a shock 70-69 win Mapua on Wednesday at The Arena in San Juan to register its second straight victory.
Alex Almario split his charities with 17.8 seconds left in the fourth quarter to shatter a 69-all tie before the Heavy Bombers made the defensive stop on the game’s final play to complete the rally.
With the win, JRU improved to an even 2-2 slate to gain solo sixth spot in the standings while sending the Cardinals down to a disappointing 0-4 slate.
“Luckily our defense clicked in the last part of the fourth quarter,” said coach Vergel Meneses.
The misfortunes of the Intramuros-based squad continued after many predicted them to be not only as a sure Final Four contender but also compete for the championship.
John Lopez, who tied the game at 69-all on a tough drive with 1:49 left, led JRU with 17 points, nine rebounds and three assists while Jeckster Apinan and Raycon Kabigting had 16 and 14 points, respectively.
Apinan and Kabigting we’re responsible for bringing the Kalentong-based cagers back from a 55-37 deficit with three minutes left in the third period.
The lanky Apinan, who also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals, scored 10 points in the fourth mostly off Mapua turnovers while Kabigting hit seven as JRU clawed it way back.
JRU somehow got a lucky break when Mapua’s ace guard Allan Mangahas left the game with two minutes left after an inadvertent elbow from teammate Yousef Taha forced him to sit on the sidelines with a bloody cut above his right eye.
Taha would miss the shot after the Lopez equalizer, Apinan bungled a tough drive to the hoop and Nimes bungled a jumper.
Almario raced to the other floor before he got hacked by Mapua’s Kenneth Ighalo with the team in penalty. The JRU guard muffed his first foul shot before hitting the second to grab the lead.
JRU struggled at the start as Nimes erupted for 19 first half points while Taha scored 10 and Mapua led 40-28 at the half. In the third, Taha completed an alley-oop pass to Ighalo for a commanding 55-37 advantage before faltering down the stretch.
“We we’re kind of playing relax and just doing the motions in the first half,” said Meneses. “But we kept on applying the system and try to chip away at the lead.”
Nimes went scoreless in the final two periods. Taha had 15 points and eight boards while Jonathan Banal made 11 markers.
Mangahas, who was elected by coach Chito Victolero to come off the bench, managed to put up only seven points before the injury.
The scores:
JRU 70 – Lopez 17, Apinan 16, Kabigting 14, Villarias 10, Almario 6, Mendoza 4, Carampil 2, Monserat 1, Paniamogan 0, de la paz 0, Montemayor 0.
MAPUA 69 - Nimes 19, Taha 15, Banal 11, Mangahas 7, Ighalo 6, Stevens 5, Pascual 4, Parala 2, Ranises 0, Chien 0, Sarangay 0.
Quarters: 10-25; 28-40; 48-60; 70-69.
