Bombers rip Knights; Pirates halt Cards

MANILA, Philippines - Philip Paniamogan poured in 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter as Jose Rizal U frustrated last year’s runner-up Letran, 69-60, to move to fifth in the 90th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

The Heavy Bombers blew a seven-point lead at the turn but fought back from three points down at the onset of the fourth with Paniamogan keying the hosts’ fiery windup with a flurry of baskets that evened their card at 2-2.

The JRU hotshot actually struggled in the first 20 minutes of play, scoring just a point but exploded with 21 in the second half, including a triple that gave the Bombers a 54-50 lead.

“I kept telling him (Paniamogan) his role, which is to find his spots and not hurry his shots too much,” said JRU coach Vergel Meneses.

Kevin Racal countered with a pair of three-pointers to shove the Knights back on top, 56-54, with about three minutes left in the contest. But Paniamogan, a native of Cagayan de Oro City, scored all but four of his team’s final 15 points to secure the win for the Bombers.

The Knights fell to 1-3.

Lyceum later leaned on Joseph Gabayni’s double-double effort of 23 points and 10 rebounds as it edged a stubborn Mapua side, 80-78, to tie JRU at fifth.

The Cardinals absorbed their fourth straight setback.

John Grospe, Jaycee Asuncion and Bernabe Teodoro shot 10 points apiece to provide the solid backup to Paniamogan while import Abdul Razak Abdul Wahab from Ghana crashed the boards with a game-best 15 rebounds and a block in a superb defensive job.