Cards, Archers pound rivals, march to Elite 8

MANILA, Philippines - Mapua and former champion La Salle marched into the Elite 8 of the 2010 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) after clobbering their respective Sweet 16 rivals yesterday at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Cardinals demolished National University, 74-61, in a fight-marred duel while 2008 winners Green Archers sideswiped Letran, 70-56, in a victory that proved costly as they lost Luigi dela Paz (shoulder) and Simon Atkins (ankle) to injuries.

Mapua’s big man Mike Parala had a breakout performance of 22 points, six rebounds and one shot block in a rugged duel with NU’s Emmanuel Mbe.

Parala’s career game, however, was cut short when he was ejected with 58.2 seconds left for punching Mbe after being hit by an elbow to the face.

The Cardinals will face the winner of today’s Sweet 16 duel between defending PCCL champion and three-peat UAAP titlist Ateneo and ISAA cage kings Lyceum for a spot in the semis.

Mapua broke free from a tight contest with a 9-0 run anchored on Parala and Erwin Cornejo en route to a 36-24 lead at the turn. The Cardinals continued to turn the heat in the third, hitting three triples in an 18-6 exchange to post their biggest lead at 54-30, 3:58 left in the period.

“Our defense clicked in the second quarter and we were able to score on the fastbreak and off turnovers,” Mapua coach Chito Victolero said of their breakaway. “And Parala really stepped up and the seniors did their job.”

The 6-6 Parala, whose previous best in the NCAA was only 12 points, held his ground against Mbe, who finished with seven markers and 10 boards.

Both Parala and Mbe were slapped with disqualifying fouls after their altercation.

“At the start, I accidentally hit him (Mbe) in the eye and asked him if he’s okay. I even jokingly told him to expect more to come. After that, he’s always hitting me in the stomach and really got my ire by bumping me hard (in the third). I blew my top when he elbowed me in the face,” Parala, who threw a punch at Mbe but missed, said in Filipino.

Jason Pascual added 13 points and Erwin Cornejo had 10 for Mapua, which finished fourth in the 86th NCAA.

The Bulldogs, who recently won the Unigames title, were led by Joeffrey Javillonar’s 19 and Jul-ashri Ignacio’s 13.

La Salle got back at Letran, their tormentor in last year’s Sweet 16, even without Joshua Webb and Gab Banal, who are both in the US, and Joel Tolentino, who’s taken a leave from the team.

The Green Archers ripped the Knights apart with a 10-0 start, a lead they later stretched to 42-21 and never relinquished the rest of the way to net a quarterfinal berth against either NCAA conqueror San Beda or University of the East.

“Our game plan was to stop their (Knights’) guards because last year (Jaypee) Belencion had 36 points against us. Now we did a good job containing their guards and our big men played their advantage in athleticism to the hilt,” said coach Dindo Pumaren, who drew 17 points, including five treys, from Samuel Marata.

Kevin Alas and Belencion (four treys) paced Letran with 16 and 12, respectively.