Cards buck injuries, rap Dolphins

Mapua held off repeated rallies by Philippine Christian University yesterday to win a highly-physical contest, 74-61, and avenge its embarrassing first-round defeat to the Dolphins in the 77th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

Roberto Lagar and Steve Marucot provided the inspiration for the Cardinals as they kept on playing despite suffering injuries. Lagar was pulled out in the first quarter when he suffered a cut on his right eyebrow during a rebound battle while Marucot bled from the mouth after colliding head-on with PCU’s Bernson Franco in the final quarter.

The injuries, however, did not stop the two veterans from delivering the goods as they combined for 23 points. Lagar and Marucot had six points each in the opening quarter which the Cardinals took, 26-15, and hit clutch baskets each time the Dolphins, who stunned the Cardinals, 73-71, in their first-round encounter, threatened to grab the upperhand.

It was the fifth win in the last six games for the Cardinals, who remained in third with an overall record of 5-3. The Dolphins, who trailed by as many as 14 points in the second quarter, absorbed their sixth loss against only two victories, the other one coming at the expense of defending champion St. Benilde.

Making things quite easier for the Cardinals was the Dolphins’ anemic free-throw shooting which saw them struggle for only 25 of 40 attempts. PCU came to within five points in the final quarter but was met by a decisive 8-2 spurt anchored on Marucot for a 66-55 count heading into the final three minutes.

In the other game, Ronjay Enrile sank two charities with only 4.7 seconds left as Letran, after trailing by 19 points in the second quarter, pulled off a dramatic 71-70 victory over Perpetual Help.

The victory thus snapped the Knights’ three-game skid as they joined their victim at 4-4.

Enrile, last year’s juniors MVP, was fouled by Raffy Ibrahim on his way to the basket and calmly sank both shots. Before that, reigning PBL MVP Chester Tolomia had a towering block against Letran’s Ismael Junio and drove coast-to-coast to give the Altas their last taste of the lead, 70-69.