Mapua waxed hot from beyond the arc and blasted College of St. Benilde, 84-65, to grab the solo third spot in the NCAA Season 97 at the La Salle Green Hills Gym on Tuesday, April 19.
The Cardinals played to a perfect rhythm on the offensive end as they shot 12 three-pointers en route to a convincing victory over the Blazers and improved to a 5-2 record.
Brian Lacap and Paolo Hernandez led the outside sniping for Mapua, drilling four three pointers each while Adrian Nocum added two. Lacap finished with 22 points on a 50 percent clip from the rainbow territory while Hernandez added 17 markers and seven rebounds.
It was also the second straight game that the Cardinals reached twin digits in three-point field goals after unloading 12 in their 95-83 win against Perpetual Help last Wednesday.
More than their offensive execution, however, Mapua head coach Randy Alcantara credited the team’s defense that led to the lopsided win
“Congrats sa players kasi talagang ginawa nila yung assignment nila especially on the defense. Alam naman natin gaano kalakas sa rebound plus yung execution din ng Benilde nagawa namin yung depensa namin,” said Alcantara whose Cardinals limited the Blazers to a 36 percent shooting from the field and a measly 1-of-18 shooting from the three-point line.
Will Gozum paced the Blazers with 13 points and 14 rebounds while Miggy Corteza added 11 markers.
The Cardinals started guns ablaze in the second quarter as Lacap and Hernandez triggered the three-point barrage to build a 15-point separation, 34-19. The Blazers, banking on their full-court press, crawled back within single digits, 39-30, at the half.
Mapua turned it on once again from the distance as Nocum and Lacap triples stretched the lead back to twin-digits in the third frame, 47-3, which it never relinquished the rest of the way.
Efforts from Corteza and AJ Benson shoved the Blazers within 12 several times late in the third and early in the final frame but just couldn’t get the push to break through the double-digit barrier as Hernandez drilled timely triples to keep them at bay.
CSB fell to the fourth spot with a 4-3 record with San Sebastian and San Beda as its last two opponents. Mapua meanwhile will face the still unbeaten San Beda before rounding up its schedule against Lyceum.
The scores:
Mapua 84 -- Lacap 22, Hernandez 17, Nocum 14, Agustin 9, Gamboa 8, Pido 6, Mercado 4, Bonifacio 4, Asuncion 0, Salenga 0, Milan 0, Garcia 0, Soriano 0.
CSB 65 -- Gozum 13, Corteza 11, Benson 10, Carlos 8, Nayve 6, Davis 5, Marcos 4, Cullar 4, Lepalam 3, Flores 1, Mosqueda 0, Sangco 0, Publico 0, Lim 0.
Quarters: 19-19, 39-30, 62-47, 84-65
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