By Diego de la Paz
SAN JUAN, Philippines (Eagle News) – San Beda College vented its ire on a shorthanded Mapua Institute of Technology squad, pulling off a masterful 106-80 victory in Group B of the 2016 Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup action at the Filoil Flying V Centre on Thursday.
Coming off a stinging loss at the hands of De La Salle University last Sunday, San Beda – the tournament’s defending champion – got a huge lift from its backcourt quartet to rack up its third win in four games.
Ex-Green Archers guard Robert Bolick fired 15 points on a perfect shooting afternoon – making all four field goals and five free throws – to lead San Beda. Senior guard Dan Sara added 14 points, while AC Soberano and Jeramer Cabanag each finished with 10.
The Cardinals, which dropped to 1-4 (won-lost), played without Andrew Estrella and reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) most valuable player Allwell Oraeme due to various ailments. Almel Orquina put up 26 points built around four triples and seven field goals to top all Mapua scorers.
In the main game, Ateneo de Manila held off the gritty defending NCAA champion Letran in a wire-to-wire victory, 66-53, to notch its second win in three games.
Thirdy Ravena, making his return in the blue and white this upcoming University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) wars, put up 10 points to lead the Blue Eagles. CJ Perez made his tournament debut, scoring eight markers in 12 minutes.
Meanwhile, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde relied on big men Edward Dixon and Christian Fajarito to thump Emilio Aguinaldo College, 71-46, and record its first win of the tournament in the first game of the day.
Dixon and Fajarito, both sophomores in Gabby Velasco’s lineup, tallied 12 points apiece to lead the balanced-scoring Blazers in snapping its four-game winless skid. Rookies Louie Pasamante and Yankee Haruna contributed eight points each.
The Blazers jumped the gun on the hapless Generals, putting on a 16-2 start – 11 from fastbreak points – in the first period to set the tone throughout the rest of the match. EAC never led at any point in the ballgame.
Despite already being eliminated from contention in Group A, Coach Gabby Velasco said that his wards responded well to the challenge, especially with the return of forward Fons Saavedra.
“[The win] boosted our confidence in the win. But one of the objectives we had in joining this league was to see what we could improve on,” said Velasco. “In the first four games, we have a lot to improve on, including our turnovers and execution.”
Saavedra, who attended to academic matters before getting cleared to play in their warmup tournament less than a month prior to the 92nd NCAA cage wars, did not disappoint in his return as he punched through eight points on three-for-eight shooting with six rebounds.
Hamadou Laminou scored 16 points with 12 rebounds and two blocked shots, while Jervin Guzman added 13 points off a three-for-five outing from three-point range for the Generals in a losing cause.
The loss put EAC to a tie with Benilde with identical 1-4 (won-lost) records for the tournament.
