Mapua seeks to rejoin Letran and San Beda at the top, while season host College of St. Benilde shoots for its third straight win in an interesting NCAA men’s basketball doubleheader Tuesday at the La Salle Green Hills Gym.
The Cardinals seek to extend their perfect run to three games when they play San Sebastian at 12 noon, while the Blazers take on Emilio Aguinaldo College at 3 p.m.
At 2-0, the third-running Mapua is just half-a-game behind the Knights and the Red Lions.
Not far behind is CSB, which is sitting in fourth spot with a 2-1 slate.
Cardinals coach Randy Alcantara is bracing for a grind-it out defensive battle with the 1-1 Stags.
“Kailangang maging maayos kami sa mga decision-making namin,” said Alcantara as Mapua went through anxious moments before beating Jose Rizal University, 59-56, last Sunday.
“Minsan may mga hurried shots, nawala ‘yung mga extra passes namin noong early part of fourth quarter (against the Bombers). Doon kami nanalo sa first game (against EAC). Dapat maibalik iyon. Mabuti nga at hindi bumitaw sa depensa.”
After a narrow season-opening loss to Arellano University, San Sebastian entered the win column with a 63-58 tripping of University of Perpetual Help System Dalta last Friday.
Against the much-favored Cardinals, coach Egay Macaraya wanted his Stags to be more aggressive on both ends of the floor.
“Ang lakas ng Mapua. Alam ninyo naman mga beterano na iyon. Sa inilalaro nila, we will try to just do what’s best for us. Maganda pa rin ang defense namin and who knows? May bonus akong offensive guys,” said Macaraya.
Under new coach Charles Tiu, the Blazers could have gone 3-0 had it not been for a tough opening-day loss to the back-to-back title-seeking Knights.
“I guess I’m happy with every win, you know. Thank God, thanking the Lord in every win we can get,” said Tiu. “Yeah I’m still a little bit upset about losing to Letran when we had a chance to win that game.
“At this point we are happy from where we are. We will take any game we can. Our focus is to play better every game. Hopefully we can continue to play better,” he added.
The Generals, who despite their 1-2 record have been very competitive this season, are ready to give the Blazers a good fight.
Coming off a 70-69 win over Lyceum of the Philippines University last Sunday, EAC needs to match CSB’s intensity if it wants to continue its good showing this season.
“Para sa akin, Benilde is a top contender. I saw them play and they are a very good team. They are very fluid. They have a very good coach and their system is really good,” said coach Oliver Bunyi.
Games Today
(La Salle Greenhills Gym)
12 noon – SSC-R vs Mapua
3 p.m. – EAC vs CSB