oo i it i t tC rdi C rt r o
Letran found an unlikely hero in rookie John Jovit Tambeling as it overcame a fierce-fighting Mapua side, - , to remain at the helm in the 9th CAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City yesterday.
Averaging just three points a game, Tambeling, a -year-old freshman from Misamis riental, sparked a crucial fourthquarter run carrying the nights to a ninth win in 1 games.
Tambeling, who scored eight of his 1 points early in the fourth quarter, failed to finish the game though, ejected after an elbow foul on arrel ave Magigay.
evin acal, though still nursing a sprained ankle he sustained in the third quarter of their - win over San Beda at the M A Arena last week, delivered personal season highs of points and 1 rebounds.
Letran coach Caloy Garcia said he’s happy they’re winning tough, close games.
“The nice thing about close games is you learn a lot. The nice thing is we’re winning those close games,” he said.
The Cardinals actually set the pace early on as enneth Ighalo, Mark Brana and Joseph Eriobu took turns in delivering the goods.
Mapua was still ahead at - late in the third period before Letran unleashed a run to surge ahead.
Tambeling sparked the telling run with an eight-point binge including a pair of booming triples. aymond Almazan chipped in 1 . Mark Cruz, who didn’t start because of flulike symptoms, played minimal minutes and finished with six points.
Ighalo and Brana paced the Cardinals with 19 and 1 points, respectively.
In the nightcap, San Beda outlasted first round tormentor Lyceum, 1- , to move up to solo second place with an - card.
The Pirates fell to - .
Streaking Cagayan Province braces for a tough outing as it faces a souped-up Meralco side, looking for its fourth straight victory and at least a playoff for a quarterfinal berth in the Shakey’s -League Season 1 pen Conference at The Arena in San Juan today.
olding off Air orce in four and clipping Smart-Maynilad and Philiippine avy in straight sets gave Cagayan the view of the top with the ising Suns eager to stretch their run to four against the surging Power Spikers.
With Chinese Coco Wang boosting Meralco’s threat at the net that includes Maureen uano, Maica Morada, Stephanie Mercado and ille Cainglet, Meralco has become an instant title contender, staying in the upper half of the eightteam pack with a -1 mark.
But they will have to unleash so much power to stop the ising Suns, who also boast of a pair of Thai guest players in annika Thipachot and Phomia Soraya.
Thipachot firms up Cagayan’s frontline rotation that includes leading spiker Angeli Tabaquero and Aiza Maizo while Soraya is the leading setter with eight per set in the early going of the tournament sponsored by Shakey’s Pizza.
That makes the p.m. clash a match to watch