Cardinals nail 3rd win in Filoil

Mapua outsteadied a young National U side in the stretch, carving out an 87-82 decision to keep its unbeaten run in the Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan yesterday.

Lawrence Victoria hit two charities and a jumper over Shaun Ildefonso in the last 1:43 as the Cardinals broke away from a 78-all count on their way to notching their third straight victory in Group A.

Rookie Warren Bonifacio led Mapua with 25 points and 12 rebounds as he outdueled the taller NU center Issa Gaye, who finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Cedric Pelayo added 17 points, including five triples while Victoria chipped in 13 markers for the Murallabased squad.

JV Gallego shot 16 points while Shaun Ildefonso added 15 markers for NU.

In other matches, University of the East, with incoming head coach Joe Silva watching from the back, trounced erratic Emilio Aguinaldo College, 73-59.