Chiefs imperil Cardinals' bid for fourth spot

MANILA, Philippines - Vacation-bound Arellano rocked the 87th NCAA seniors basketball caging with a 73-69 upset over favored Mapua at The Arena yesterday, hampering the Cardinals’ quest for the fourth and last berth to the Final Four.

Andrian Celada and Mark Doligon combined for 38 points while Jerald Lapuz bucked a nasty cut below the right eye to score 12 points as the Chiefs, already out of the running for the semis, improved to 6-11.

“My challenge to the players, especially those who are in their last playing years, to play their best games in our last two outings and leave a good mark,” said AU coach Leo Isaac, who starred for Mapua in the 80s.

The Cardinals slid to fifth with a 7-10 mark.

The Chiefs had one extra motivation against the semis-chasing Cardinals: Revenge.

“They beat us in the first round (73-70) only on a buzzer-beater by (Allan) Mangahas so it was some sort of a challenge to get payback in this game,” said Isaac.

San Beda turned to Garvo Lanete (25 points) and Dave Marcelo (18 markers) to pull away in the second half en route to a protest-marred 84-75 disposal of College of St. Benilde. The Lions fortified their hold of second at 13-2 while putting CSB (5-10) to the brink of elimination.

CSB captain Timothy McCoy signed the scoresheet as the Blazers questioned the referees’ decision to apply the three-minute mandatory sit-out for an injured shooter when Blazer Carlo Lastimosa got poked in the eye with 2:45 left and SBC ahead, 67-74.

“It’s just a clarification of the rules,” said Blazers coach Richard del Rosario. “ I will look at the tapes just to find out if they are consistent with that rule all throughout the season.”

Game officials applied the rule after CSB’s physical therapist rushed to the court to attend to Lastimosa who fell after a foul by SBC’s Baser Amer. Lastimosa was supposed to take two and was replaced by Michael Pate. Since there were less than three minutes left, Lastimosa couldn’t check back in anymore.

“Our PT’s contention was that he was allowed by the referees to enter the court so we have to review the game tape. Plus the fact that many times throughout the season, I’ve been seeing PTs entering the court. Is it only applied now? “ del Rosario said.

Lanete spearheaded an 11-4 third-quarter binge that pushed the Lions ahead by 10, 60-50. The Blazers threatened to within 62-65 but Lanete drilled in a trey to ignite a 13-7 counter-assault for a fresh 78-69 cushion.

“It was a bit of a struggle in the first two quarters and play was quite shaky. Anyway, Marcelo and Lanete played well and the support crew gave us needed relief,” said SBC coach Frankie Lim.

Lastimosa, who returned to CSB after missing one game, finished with 15.