NCAA: Hot-shooting Cardinals torch St. Benilde for solo third

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Mapua Cardinals in the NCAA Season 97. NCAA/GMA PHOTO

Brian Lacap and Paolo Hernandez rained threes on the floor as Mapua pulled away early to demolish College of St. Benilde, 84-65, to seize solo third place in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Tuesday at the La Salle Greenhills gym.

Lacap, who again started for coach Randy Alcantara following an admirable previous output, fired four triples for a game-high 22 points while the hot-sniping Hernandez swished four of his own from afar to contribute 17 points.

Posting their fifth victory in seven games, the Cardinals fired a total of 12 threes that overshadowed the Blazers’ dismal 1 of 18 effort from the same area and flubbed only three free throws out of 21 attempts from the line.

It gave the Cardinals added boost in their Final Four bid behind unbeaten Letran and San Beda while the Blazers absorbed their second consecutive loss and fell to 4-3 at fourth spot.

Lacap’s big three halfway into the second quarter punctuated a 15-0 assault that shattered the last deadlock at 19.

From there, the Cardinals sustained the ride and built a comfortable leverage that even Will Gozum’s double-double efforts of 13 points and 14 rebounds could not reverse.

The scores:

First Game

Mapua 84 — Lacap 22, Hernandez 17, Nocum 14, Agustin 9, Gamboa 8, Pido 6, Mercado 4, Bonifacio 4, Asuncion 0, Salenga 0, Milan 0, Garcia 0, Soriano 0.

CSB 65 — Gozum 13, Corteza 11, Benson 10, Carlos 8, Nayve 6, Davis 5, Marcos 4, Cullar 4, Lepalam 3, Flores 1, Mosqueda 0, Sangco 0, Publico 0, Lim 0.

Quarters: 19-19, 39-30, 62-47, 84-65