BY ABBY TORALBA
JOSE Rizal University turned back Arellano University 79-74 yesterday for its second straight win and gained solo third in the 99th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.
Jonathan Medina led the Heavy Bombers with 16 points and eight rebounds while skipper Ry Dela Rosa, who banged in big three-pointers in the fourth quarter, had 12 markers and two boards.
JRU also got help from Patrick Ramos who had 15 points, while Joshua Guiab posted a double-double of 11 markers and 11 rebounds as the Bombers rose to 8-4.
The Chiefs dropped to 2-9.
JRU came off a 79-72 win over San Sebastian College last Friday.
Later, San Sebastian stunned San Beda University Red Lions 75-67.
Reggs Gabat finished with 18 points, two rebounds and two steals for the Golden Stags’ bounce back win, while Romel Calahat had 16 markers and seven boards.
Rafael Are scored 14, while Tristan Felebrico registered a double-double of 12 markers and 10 rebounds as the Golden Stags improved to 4-8.
The Red Lions fell to 7-4.
In the third game, College of St. Benilde weathered a mighty fightback by Perpetual Help and hacked out a 77-73 victory for a place in the magic four.
“Sa akin, ang challenge ko sa team right now is, I want to see them as a team. I think we started individually but nag-grow sila, with Patrick Ramos, Jonathan Medina, and Ry. Parang us, to strengthen iyong campaign namin this season, I want to see them grow as a team,” JRU coach Louie Gonzalez said. “We really rely on each other and again, si Ry is just a byproduct na lang siya ng itinatakbo namin.
“Alam ko na he always gives credits doon sa teammates niya for sacrificing for him to get open shots and luckily, iyong pinaka-crucial na shot na back-to-back three-pointers ni Ry ay, again, saved the day for JRU,” he added.
Jade Talampas’ 19 point-effort proved to be not enough for Arellano, which slipped to 2-9.
Troy Valencia also scored 16 markers, while Lorenz Capulong and Dani Mallari combined for 21 points for the Chiefs.
“Ang sabi ko lang kasi doon sa dugout, we have our eight-point lead, alam naman natin nag-co-collapse tayo in the third and fourth quarter, let’s try to be matured this game,” San Sebastian strategist John Kallos said.
“We had to make a good decision for the latter part ng game, sabi ko. The boys responded well. I think we just committed six turnovers the whole game. So, that’s the key in this game.”
Jomel Puno was a rebound shy from a double-double with 16 points and nine boards for San Beda, while Jacob Cortez delivered 15 markers.