MANILA, Philippines - The Jose Rizal Light Bombers claimed another powerhouse team as they shocked San Sebastian, 85-70, to leapfrog to the top in the juniors division of the 90th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.
Several days after toppling five-peat champ San Beda, the Light Bombers continued their giant-killing ways and leaned on a big third-quarter run to pull the rug from under the Staglets this time.
Mark dela Virgen spearheaded the assault as the Light Bombers seized a 52-43 spread in the penultimate period and never relinquished control.
Dela Virgen finished with a game-best 21 points, including four triples, and spiked it with another game-high 13 rebounds while Darious Estrella, Andrei Dada and Jamil Garcia chipped in 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively.
It was a fitting followup to Jose Rizal’s earlier upset over heavily-favored San Beda. Estrella starred in that huge reversal over the Red Cubs, nailing the game-winning basket off a beautiful inbound feed from dela Virgen.
The twin victories gave Jose Rizal the leadstart in the race for the Final Four, which the Light Bombers missed the last five seasons.
“We’re happy with what we have accomplished but the most important thing is that the league is now starting to respect Jose Rizal,” said Jose Rizal coach Nat Gregorio. – Joey Villar