Lions eye share of top spot

Games Tuesday

10 a.m. – Perpetual Help vs Jose Rizal (Jrs)

12 nn. – San Beda vs Arellano (Jrs)

2 p.m. – Perpetual Help vs Jose Rizal (Jrs)

4 p.m. – San Beda vs Arellano (Srs)

MANILA, Philippines – San Beda clashes with Arellano University while Perpetual Help faces off with Jose Rizal on Tuesday with an eye of catching up with leader Letran in the 91st NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Lions, who grounded the San Sebastian Stags, 92-81, Thursday to hike their record to 7-1 (win-loss), battle the Chiefs at 4 p.m. while the Altas, who slammed the Emilio Aguinaldo Generals, 68-55, last week to remain at No. 3 with a 6-2 card, collide with the Bombers at 2 p.m.

A win by San Beda will gain it a share of first spot with Letran, which finished the first round with an 8-1 slate, while Perpetual Help will move just a game behind with a victory over Jose Rizal.

"Our goal is to be in the top two after the first round and we're close to achieving that," said San Beda coach Jamike Jarin.

Reigning MVP Earl Scottie Thompson and high-scoring Nigerian rookie Bright Akhuetie hope to bounce back from forgettable performances in the last game wherein they were held to just five and one point, respectively.

Thankfully, Prince Eze and Antonio Coronel came off the bench and fired 17 and 16 points to save the day for the Las Pinas-based dribblers.

"It's one of those times but I expect them to bounce back from it," said Perpetual Help mentor Aric del Rosario referring to Thompson and Akhuetie.

Ola Adeogun, another Nigerian, is fresh from one of his best effort of the season--a 28-point and 14-rebound performance the last game.

Arellano and Jose Rizal, currently tied at No. 4 with 5-3 marks, for their part, will ride on their triumphs over St. Benilde, 85-73, Friday and Mapua, 90-87, a week ago in eyeing no less than a win.

Tey Teodoro is expected to draw most of the attention from Perpetual after he erupted with a career-best 32 points, 18 of which came in the fourth quarter when the Bombers erased an 18-point deficit with less than four minutes remaining for the miraculous comeback.

"He's our best player this year," said Jose Rizal mentor Vergel Meneses of Teodoro, who has averaged a career 16 points this year.