Games Friday
(Quarterfinals)
11 a.m. – NU vs. JRU
1 p.m. – UST vs. Letran
3 p.m. – UP vs. Mapua
6 p.m. – San Beda vs. La Salle
Letran made sure to avoid any complications en route to the playoffs of the 19th Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup bylocking up the top seed of the NCAA Group with a 70-66 triumph over Perpetual on Wednesday at Playtime Filoil Centre in San Juan.
Rookie Justin Cargo took the cudgels from an off-shooting Titing Manalili as he delivered 15 points and five rebounds but more importantly, captained the Knights’ fightback from 18 points down.
“Hindi ko naman siya kukunin ng walang purpose or hindi gagamitin. Talagang sinabi ko sa kanya kung ano nakita ko sa kanya, and fortunately, he trusted me with that,” said coach Allen Ricardo of Cargo who was instrumental as Letran ended the eliminations on an eight-game win streak to arrange a quarterfinals date against University of Santo Tomas on Friday.
Fellow rookie George Diamante also shone, chipping in 11 points and five boards while Jimboy Estrada scored 10 in the win.
Manalili limited to just four points in 18 minutes of play in the final prelims playdate.
LA Casinillo led the Altas with 19 points to cap off their 3-6 campaign.
San Beda also avoided similar difficulties with an emphatic 68-49 victory over Mapua.
Zed Etulle led the Red Lions with 14 points, seven rebounds, and two assists, JC Bonzalida also nabbed 14 points and seven boards, and rookie Andrei Ugaddan had his share of the spotlight by contributing 11 points and seven rebounds in the wire-to-wire win.
Jaymark Lloren was the only one to breach double figures for the Cardinals with his 10 points in the loss that forced a three-way tie for no. 2 in the pool at 7-2.
San Beda, though, held the superior quotient thanks to this 19-point win, with idle Jose Rizal U claiming the third-seed and Mapua sliding down to fourth.
The Cardinals will now have to prepare for UAAP Group’s no. 1 seed University of the Philippines, while the Heavy Bombers will take on UAAP no. 2 National U.
In the day’s other games, Far Eastern U ended its preseason run on winning note, taking down winless Adamson, 79-63.
Janrey Pasaol’s displayed MVP-caliber productions anew with 13 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and three steals, with all but one point from beyond the arc to level their standing at 3-3.
Matty Erolon paced the Soaring Falcons (0-5) with 16 markers from three triples.
Lyceum of the Philippines also arrested a two-game skid with a 95-91 victory over Emilio Aguinaldo College.
Renz Villegas waxed hot with his 27-point performance on an efficient 13-of-14 clip from the free throw line, while Jerome Almario and Nat Fuentes chimed in 11 points apiece to help the Pirates finish their run with a 3-6 win-loss record.
Harvae Raymundo topscored for the Generals (4-5) with 18 points as Jacob Shanoda got 16 points and nine boards in the losing cause.
