The Arellano University Chiefs maintained its winning form and staved off the Mapua University Cardinals, 68-58, to keep its flickering quarterfinal hopes alive, Wednesday afternoon at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
The Chiefs move up to 3-4, just outside the top four in Group B. On the other hand, the Cardinals took its seventh consecutive loss.
Kent Salado steered the gray-shirts with 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Lervin Flores powered his way inside with a double-double performance at 10 markers and 20 caroms.
The Legarda-based team leaned on its strong start in the first half after shooting 43 percent from the inside to lead by double digits at 41-31.
Andoy Estrella and Cedric Pelayo tried to carry the Cards, but Arellano had the answer every single time to deny the opponents the opportunity to mount a comeback.
The lead ballooned to 15, 64-49, 3:36 left in the game as Salado fired off a trey and Zach Nichols nailed a jumper, to put the game out of reach.
Estrella and Christian Bunag converted on transition to cut the deficit to seven, 57-64, with two minutes left, only Flores came up big with a huge rebound off a Salado miss to take off some time.
For Arellano coach Jerry Codiñera, more than the a possible elite eight stint, what he is looking at is the confidence the squad is getting moving forward. “Second kami nun sa FilOil eh with Jio (Jalalon). Malaking bagay talaga siya,” he shared.
“Dito namin makikita na yung replacements, decent naman yung papakita,” the former pro star added.
Forward Allen Enriquez missed the rest of the second half for Arellano after incurring an injury at the third period.
The Chiefs will face the University of the Philippines (4-1) on Monday, June 12 at 1:30 pm.
Pelayo finished one rebound shy of a double-double at 13 points and nine boards to pace the Cardinals. The Intramuros-based squad shot just a solitary basket from the outside out of 12 tries for a horrible eight percent clip.
Mapua U will close their Cup campaign against the Emilio Aguinaldo College (2-4) on Wednesday, June 14 at 11:15 am.
The Scores:
AU (68) – Salado 17, Flores 10, Nichols 10, Cañete 6, Abanes 6, Villoria 4, Enriquez 4, Concepcion 4, Aguilar 2, Meca 2, Taywan 2, Rivera 1, De Guzman 0, Padilla 0, Juico 0, Filart 0.
MU (58) – Pelayo 13, Victoria 12, Estrella 12, Aguirre 9, Bunag 5, Nieles 4, Serrano 3, Orquina 0, Raflores 0, Jimenez 0.
Quarterscores: 25-12, 41-31, 50-42, 68-58
