Mapua trips St. Benilde to clinch semis berth

Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT) leaned on Rodel Ranises' outside shooting in the fourth period to turn back College of Saint Benilde, 64-59, in the NCAA men's basketball tournament on Wednesday at The Arena in San Juan City. Ranises scored all of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. He shot a steady 4-of-6 shootingn from beyond-the-arc to fuel the Cardinals' blazing finish and finalize his team's entry to the Final Four. The Cardinals picked up their ninth win in 15 games. San Beda remains on top with a perfect 14-0 record followed by defending champion San Sebastian, which has a 13-1 mark. Jose Rizal University is currently at third with an 11-4 slate. Mapua will be making its fifth straight semis appearance while in the process ended Letran's string of seven consecutive trips to the Final Four. "Entering this game, we talked about not to wait for the outcome of San Beda and Letran and not let up against CSB so I'm very happy that we led our team back into the Final Four," said coach Chito Victolero. The Blazers, who were trying to play the spoiler's role, were in the thick of the fight, trailing by only one, 46-47, on a completed alley-hoop play by Carlo Lastimosa. But Ranises kept the Blazers at bay when he buried back-to-back treys as the Cardinals enjoyed a 53-46 lead with 6:25 left in the game clock. Macky Acosta led the Cardinals with 14 points and seven rebounds, Allan Mangahas had 13 markers and five boards while center Mark Sarangay added 10 points and 16 rebounds. MIT enjoyed a nine-point lead in the third quarter until the rookie duo of Carlo Lastimosa and Luis Sinco led the Blazers on a spirited comeback to grab a slim lead. But it was Ranises' turn to shut the lights out, hitting three straight from downtown then fired a fourth one for an eight-point lead with more than four minutes left to seal the deal. "One thing I like about (Ranises) is that whether he plays for 20-25 minutes or 10-15 minutes per game and he will provide some contributions," said Victolero. Lastimosa paced the Blazers with 16 points despite a 4-of-17 shooting. He also had five rebounds and two assists while center Tim McCoy came up with 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks. Lanky Jan Tan chipped in 10 points and seven boards while Sinco, a member of the 2008 and 2009 UAAP juniors champion Ateneo Blue Eaglets, scored nine markers. CSB became the first NCAA team to finish its elimination round assignment, winning five games and lost 11. The Blazers will miss the Final Four for the eighth consecutive season. – RCJ/JVP, GMANews.TV