Bismarck Lina stars as San Beda blasts Arellano; Mapua overcomes JRU

MANILA, Philippines – The San Beda Red Lions kept their winning streak going in the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament after making short work of the Arellano Chiefs, 79-65, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Saturday, October 12.

The Red Lions leaned on their resurgent center Bismarck Lina as they avenged their shocking first-round loss to the Chiefs and stretched their winning run to four games for a 7-3 record.

In only his third game for the defending champions after recovering from an ACL injury, Lina came up with a breakout performance as he produced a team-high 20 points on a healthy 7-of-11 shooting.

The 6-foot-5 Lina — who transferred to San Beda in 2023 after seeing limited minutes with the UP Fighting Maroons in his two seasons in the UAAP — also hauled down 7 rebounds in 21 minutes of playing time.

Lina’s fellow big man Yukien Andrada poured in 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point land, while reigning NCAA Player of the Week Jomel Puno tallied a double-double of 14 markers and 10 boards in the wire-to-wire rout that saw San Beda lead by as many as 27 points in the fourth, 68-41.

For the Chiefs, Lorenz Capulong fired a team-best 16 points, while Jeadan Ongotan added 10 as they dropped to a 3-7 slate.

In the second game, the Mapua Cardinals redeemed themselves from their previous overtime loss to Season 99 finals opponent San Beda with a narrow 75-71 win against the JRU Heavy Bombers.

Yam Concepcion got the job done on both ends for the Cardinals, putting up career-highs of 19 points and 5 blocks, together with a game-high 9 rebounds.

Despite shooting just 5-of-15 from the field and 2-of-8 from the free throw line, reigning NCAA MVP Clint Escamis still finished with 14 points, including the crucial layup that gave Mapua a much-needed 73-69 separation from JRU with 42.9 seconds left.

Chris Hubilla and Cyrus Cuenco also reached double-digit scoring for the Cardinals with 13 and 11 points, respectively, as they hiked their record to 7-3 — tied with the Red Lions.

Joshua Guiab and Shawn Argente paced the Heavy Bombers — who crashed to 3-7 in the standings — with 16 points each.

The Scores

First Game

San Beda 79 – Lina 20, Andrada 15, Puno 14, Sajonia 8, Payosing 7, Gonzales 4, Calimag 3, Songcuya 3, Estacio 2, Calimag 2, Tagle 1, Celzo 0, Bonzalida 0, Royo 0, Sollano 0.

Arellano 65 – Capulong 16, Ongotan 10, Valencia 9, Vinoya 6, Geronimo 5, Borromeo 4, Flores 4, Camay 2, Abiera 2, Libang 2, De Leon 2, Acop 2, Estacio 1, Hernal 0, Miller 0.

Quarters: 23-16, 41-29, 65-41, 79-65.

Second Game

Mapua 75 – Concepcion 19, Escamis 14, Hubilla 13, Cuenco 11, Igliane 6, Jabonete 6, Mangubat 3, Agemenyi 3, Bancale 0, Abdulla 0, Garcia 0, Pantaleon 0, Fermin 0.

JRU 71 – Guiab 16, Argente 16, Lozano 8, Bernardo 8, Raymundo 5, Medina 5, De Jesus 4, Benitez 4, Ferrer 3, Panapanaan 2, Pangilinan 0, Garcia 0, De Leon 0, Samontanes 0.

Quarters: 27-20, 37-36, 54-50, 75-71.

– Rappler.com