For the first time this season, the Letran-San Beda stranglehold on the top two spots was broken as Mapua shook things up with two huge wins this week. As the elimination round nears its final stretch, see how the teams stack up with playoff positioning at stake in the NCAA Season 97 men’s basketball tournament’s crucial Week 4.
1 Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights | Record: 7-0 (Week 4 record: 2-0) | Last week: 1st
While teams are scrambling for places in the Final Four and play-in, mighty Letran seems solid as ever on top of these rankings with double-digit wins against EAC and JRU this week. They’re averaging a point-differential of +15.7 over their opponents this season after 21-point and 22-point victories in their two assignments. Rhenz Abando is no longer the league-leader in scoring – but even that has more to do with his teammates stepping up than any lull in his own individual performance. Jeo Ambohot is emerging as a legit contender beside Abando in the MVP race with norms of 11 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks. Brent Paraiso, meanwhile, was averaging just 6.2 points per game before this week before finding his scoring touch with 15 points and 12 points these last two games. In the last three games, he’s shooting 9-for-12 from three-point range for a 75-percent clip. The rest of the Knights have been so good that Abando’s only averaged only 20 minutes per game this week, and Letran looks as sharp as ever.
2 Mapua Cardinals | Record: 6-2 (Week 4 record: 2-0) | Last week: 3rd
This week, Mapua had to go through the gauntlet with games against fellow Top Four teams CSB and San Beda on their schedule. Not only did they come out the other end unscathed, they passed with flying colors as they beat the Blazers by 19 before scoring the biggest upset of the season in a 14-point victory over San Beda. With the recent emergence of some players, the Cardinals now have a legitimately deep offensive arsenal with no less than five guys averaging in double figures. Brian Lacap (11.3 ppg) and Toby Agustin (10.8) have joined early leaders Paolo Hernandez (10.7), Warren Bonifacio (10.3) and Rence Nocum (10.0) to form a potent attack. They’ve shown they can bury teams with their outside shooting, but they’re still able to fall back on their sturdy defense, as they proved when they surrendered only 54 points to the Red Lions, the NCAA's #2 offense, this week. Mapua still has a chance to enter the Final Four outright, but the Cardinals have to take care of business against LPU this week, and hope San Beda struggles down the stretch.
3 San Beda University Red Lions | Record: 6-1 (Week 4 record: 1-1) | Last week: 2nd
San Beda got its first taste of adversity this week after a crucial defeat to Mapua. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a worse time for it as the Red Lions close their schedule with a tough clash against CSB and their rivalry game against powerhouse Letran coming up. This will be a season-defining stretch for the Red Lions – they’ve been undefeated for most of Season 97 but still have a chance to slip down to the play-in tournament. But it’s also a good opportunity to show just what they’re made of. James Kwekuteye has been brilliant this season, but he needs help. And more often than not, they’ve found a couple of Red Lions ready and willing to step up. They have solid depth, but they need some guys to make that leap from good role players to consistent contributors if San Beda is to prove itself as a legit contender this season.
4 College of Saint Benilde Blazers | Record 5-3 (Week 4 record: 1-1) | Last week: 4th
CSB will be disappointed in their result against Mapua this week, but can take some comfort in a convincing win over San Sebastian, where they were led by their star duo of Will Gozum and Robi Nayve. Gozum is averaging 14.4 points per game, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks, while Nayve has scored 13.8 per game this season. Both are in the Top 10 in scoring while the big man ranks 2nd in rebounds and 4th in blocks as well. They’ll have a chance to close out the elimination round strong in a tough matchup against San Beda this week, but their Final Four hopes are still very much strong, even if they might have to end up taking the hard road, through the play-in tournament, to do it.
5 Arellano Chiefs | Record: 3-5 (Week 4 record: 1-1) | Last week: 7th
There isn’t a lot that sets Arellano apart from the next three teams on this list. They’re all tied at 3-5 with one game left to play – and with two spots in the play-in up for grabs between them. The Chiefs haven’t exactly played great for most of the season – they are second to last among all teams in terms of point differential. Despite that, they may be positioned well to contend for a play-in seat. Potential MVP candidate Justin Arana (the league-leader in rebounds and blocks and Top 10 in scoring) turned it up a notch with averages of 19 points, 21 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks in two games this week. Gelo Sablan and Jordan Sta. Ana both averaged double figures for those games as well. They have some momentum after a 70-55 win over fellow play-in hopeful EAC. And their last game is against the eliminated JRU Heavy Bombers, which have only won once this season. Nothing is a given for the Chiefs in this tough season, though, so that game remains to be very dangerous. But this is a team with as good as shot as any to make it to the play-in. And with a player of Arana’s caliber, who knows what noise they can make from there.
6 Perpetual Help Altas | Record: 2-4 (Week 4 record: 1-1) | Last week: 6th
Perpetual went 1-1 in games against San Beda and Lyceum. They fought hard against the Red Lions, but also had the fight taken to them by the Pirates. But Kim Aurin and Jielo Razon continued to put up big scoring numbers this week and the Altas will be happy to have found another reliable option in Cris Pagaran, who is averaging 14 points per game in their last three games. Perpetual will take on EAC this week in a battle of play-in hopefuls, and a win there could position them well for the post-season, though anything might still happen in a wild final week of action in the elimination round.
7 San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags | Record: 3-5 (Week 4 record: 1-1) | Last week: 8th
San Sebastian has been getting superhuman performances from big man JM Calma, who averaged 25.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in two Week 4 games. That was enough to lead them to a win over JRU, but not nearly enough against a tougher CSB team, especially when no other Stag scored in double figures. Calma leads the NCAA in points per game at 16.3 but it’s clear that he can’t do this alone. The Stags aren’t exactly out of it yet, but they’ll have to pull off a miracle against undefeated Letran on Tuesday if they want to stay in the play-in race.
8 EAC Generals | Record: 3-5 (Week 4 record: 0-2) | Last week: 5th
EAC came into this week with a leg up over the competition for the play-in, but two consecutive losses to Letran and Arellano will hurt badly. The loss to the Chiefs, another team right in the thick of the fight with them, is particularly crucial. They have another similarly important game coming up, this time against the Altas with a loss possibly spelling the end for the campaign of either team. Ralph Robin, Marwin Taywan and JP Maguliano have played well, but they need more production from elsewhere if they want to extend their season.
9 Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates | Record: 2-6 (Week 4 record: 1-1) | Last week: 10th
Lyceum had a better week than the team ahead of them in this week’s rankings, going by wins and losses, but their loss to Perpetual – by only three points – might have been the final blow to their flickering play-in hopes. They have a game against a streaking Mapua team that dealt San Beda its first defeat. The Pirates have a chance to finish the season strong if they can pull off their own upset in this one, but they’ll need more consistency from their top players. Case in point, Enoch Valdez, who led the way with 17 points in Lyceum’s victory over Arellano, finished with just six against Perpetual. Omar Larupay, meanwhile, tallied a double-double with 17 and 11 against the Altas but only scored four against the Chiefs.
10 JRU Heavy Bombers | Record: 1-7 (Week 4 record: 0-2) | Last week 9th
JRU officially bowed out of play-in contention this week after absorbing their seventh defeat in eight games. It’s been a difficult season for the Heavy Bombers, who have just struggled to put points on the board. But they have one more chance to play spoiler when they take on Arellano this week. Evan Agbong and Chester Jungco contributed in their loss against San Sebastian while Hommer Macatangay had a nice game vs Letran. They’ll need all of those guys – not just Jason Celis and his 15.5 points per game – if they wan’t to end their season with a bang.
—JMB, GMA News
