Knights wrest lead; Lions fall

Letran outhustled and outgunned Mapua in a scrambling finish to pull off a 67-60 victory and seize the solo lead as Jose Rizal U stunned defending back-to-back champion San Beda, 79-74, in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Astrodome yesterday.

The Knights blanked the Cardinals in the last two and a half minutes while drawing six points from Kojak Melegrito, Dino Daa and Rey Guevarra as the Cardinals misfired from the long range and made erratic plays in their frantic bid to turn the game around.

Letran thus chalked up its sixth straight win while snapping the Cardinals’ win run at four after dropping their first two games. The Knights gun for the first round sweep against the Red Lions in a keenly awaited duel between last year’s finalists on Aug. 1.

Earlier, the Bombers relied on their three-point shooting and imposed their strength off the boards as they beat the Red Lions for the first time in four years to remain in fourth with a 3-2 card.

Marc Cagoco scored all his 18 points from behind the arc while John Wilson buried two of his three triples in the clutch to carry the Bombers to the inspiring victory.

“They used the zone in our games the past seasons so our plan was to really fire from the outside,” said Jose Rizal coach Ariel Vanguardia.

It was Jose Rizal’s first win over San Beda since it eked out a 74-71 victory on Aug. 16, 2004.

“It’s sweet because it’s our first win over them in a long while. We feel like champions right now by beating a champion,” he said.

Ogie Menor, last year’s Finals MVP, and Borgie Hermida, who fired 18 points in his team’s last win, paced San Beda with 16 points apiece but the Red Lions failed to stop the Bombers’ terrific outside shooting and slid to 5-1.

Offensive recoveries also proved crucial for the Bombers as they out-rebounded the taller Lions, 26-8.

Cagoco, who finished with six triples, and James Sena led the Bombers with 18 points apiece, while Wilson and Jay-Jay Bulangis had nine each and Jayson Nocom contributed eight points.

A three-pointer by Cagoco gave JRU back the lead, 54-52, at the end of the third period.

The 5-foot-8 Cagoco then buried another triple to spark a 7-2 run, giving the Bombers their biggest lead at 61-54 with 6:51 left in the game.

“I told them to keep shooting from the outside and tighten up on defense,” Vanguardia.