Mapua University scorched De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde with a thorough 84-65 rout to gain solo third in the NCAA Season 97 Seniors Basketball Tournament, Tuesday at La Salle Green Hills’ St. Benilde Gym in Mandaluyong City.
The win broke the deadlock between the Cardinals and the Blazers as the former now has a full game edge over the latter with a 5-2 slate.
With the Blazers taking advantage of the early penalty situation, Mapua found their hot shooting to extend the lead back to as much as 18, 76-58, with five minutes left in the game.
Paolo Hernandez took advantage of the second-chance opportunity with a three, before Brian Lacap found an open lane for a drive to keep Mapua above waters late.
CSB would also go without a field goal for a huge chunk of the payoff period before Taine Davis drilled the Blazers’ only triple of the game, 1:42 left in the game, but Mapua’s win was all but decided.
Mapua will look to carry this morale-boosting win against San Beda University (5-0) on April 23 at 12 p.m. On the other hand, CSB will go to arrest this skid when they battle San Sebastian College (2-4) on April 22 at 3 p.m.
Quarterscores: 19-19, 39-30, 62-47, 84-65.
