ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Perpetual off to strong NCAA start; JRU stuns Letran

Perpetual off to strong NCAA start; JRU stuns Letran

Published Oct 3, 2025 03:31 pm

At A Glance

  • Mark Gojo Cruz and Patrick Sleat took turns in leading the charge as Perpetual trounced San Sebastian, 67-54, for a rousing start to the NCAA Season 101 men's basketball tournament at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Friday, Oct. 3.
Mark Gojo Cruz and Patrick Sleat took turns in leading the charge as Perpetual trounced San Sebastian, 67-54, for a rousing start to the NCAA Season 101 men's basketball tournament at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Friday, Oct. 3.
Sleat, who transferred from FEU to join mentor Olsen Racela, made immediate impact for the Altas, starring on a hot 22-12 start before Cruz made sure to shut the door on any potential Stags comeback with his own searing performance in the second half.
The former Tamaraw fired eight of his 10 points in the opening frame to go with five assists and four rebounds while Cruz exploded for 13 of his 15 points in the second half to give Perpetual the perfect start to their campaign after fifth place finish last season.
Still, despite leading by as many as 17 points, 58-41, midway through the fourth, the win didn't come without any scare as the Stags suddenly pulled within eight, 52-60, following a brave 11-2 run.
That, however, proved to be the last stand for San Sebastian as Shawn Orgo also nailed a booming triple with 1:50 left to assure Perpetual the victory that put him at par with Mapua in the Group A standings with similar 1-0 records.
John Abis and JP Boral had 10 apiece for Perpetual while Tristan Felebrico paced San Sebastian with 12.
Over at the juniors, Perpetual opened its title defense in style after also drubbing San Sebastian, 78-61.
Jim Corpuz had 17 points while Don Rosales and Renzo Zanoria added 13 and 11 points, respectively, for the Junior Altas who used a 7-0 spurt to create the separation after only leading by one, 42-41, early in the third.

Jose Rizal University pulled off a stunning upset of a loaded Letran side, 73-69, to give new head coach Nani Epondulan a winning debut in the league.
Justin Lozano showed the way with 17 points – none bigger than a booming trey late in the fourth quarter that kept the rallying Knights at bay. Sean Salvador added 10 while Ivan Panapanaan had eight points and 14 rebounds.
The Heavy Bombers joined the San Beda Red Lions atop the Group B standings with similar 1-0 records.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.