This season’s early standouts De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde and Lyceum of the Philippines University are continuing to prove themselves to be actual contenders while a forfeit ruling of Mapua’s opening day win over San Beda had big ramifications for some teams as well. See how all of the teams fared in an unpredictable Week 3 in NCAA Season 98 action.
1 De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde Blazers | Record: 5-1 (Week 3 record: 2-0) | Last week: 1st
Two games, two double-digit wins for Saint Benilde in another impressive week. No one has been able to slow Benilde’s league-best offense, and they’re now outscoring opponents by over nine points per game. Chalk up two double-doubles for Will Gozum as well, as he continues to be the reliable presence that the Blazers have leaned on this season.
But even more positive is the fact that Gozum has not had to do it alone. Miggy Corteza remains in the Top-10 in the league in scoring beside Gozum and Migs Oczon. JC Cullar is the league-leader in assists per game with 5.83. Benilde has five players in the Top-10 in plus-minus.
And that they’ve managed to keep on this run even as Oczon, their second-leading scorer, was put on the shelf for a few games is seriously impressive. He made a triumphant return in their win against EAC by scoring a team-high 14 points. With a complete team, the Blazers are looking like a real threat to win it all.
2 Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates | Record: 5-1 (Week 3 record: 2-0) | Last week: 3rd
Keeping in pace with Benilde has been the LPU Pirates, who cannot be underestimated any longer following wins of two more Season 97 Final Four teams in Perpetual and Letran in Week 3.
Mclaude Guadaña, the Collegiate Press Corps NCAA Player of the Week, is heating up after scoring 12 and 20 points in their wins this week. His sniping has been impeccable, making 2.33 three-pointers per game (4th in NCAA) on a 40-percent percentage from beyond the arc (6th in NCAA). Enoch Valdez, meanwhile, is making his impact all over the floor, scoring a team-high 13 points in one game and grabbing 12 rebounds and six steals in another. Both are also Top-10 in steals, which has fueled the Pirates’ campaign this year as they are ranked #2 in opponent’s turnovers, turnover points, and fastbreak points this season.
Another welcome development was a strong performance from Omar Larupay, who has been having a quiet season but broke out with nine points, six rebounds, three assists, and two blocks against Letran. Things seem to be coming together now for LPU, and they look capable of maintaining their place near the top of the standings.
3 San Beda University Red Lions | Record: 4-1 (Week 3 record: 1-0) | Last week 6th
San Beda is a big riser in the standings this week. Not only did they win their big rivalry game against defending champion Letran, 76-68, but they also get their loss to Mapua overturned after the game was ruled a forfeit due to the ineligibility of a player who suited up that game. It’s probably not how they wanted to get that win, but Red Lions benefit in a big way as their record went up from 2-2 to 4-1 in a big week.
The game against Letran, meanwhile, should boost morale, especially as they came back from a 33-16 first quarter deficit to clinch the win. James Kwekuteye and JB Bahio were both great in that game with the star guard putting up numbers of 17 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists, while the big man also logged a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
Despite some ups and downs early in the season, they’ve made up a lot of ground on the leaders and are in prime position to challenge right now, but they need to keep performing at this level to battle with this season’s early front-runners.
4 Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers | Record: 3-2 (Week 3 record: 1-0) | Last week: 4th-5th
JRU took care of business in their only assignment this week, a tough 67-64 overtime win over Mapua. They needed some big-time composure to escape the extra period, but managed it thanks to guys like Marwin Dionisio, who scored four points in OT.
Often, it’s their prolific backcourt guys like Agem Miranda, William Sy, and JL Delos Santos making the headlines but they got a huge boost in this one from their frontline of Dionisio and Joshua Guiab, who is quietly having a strong season with averages of 12.4 points and 6.2 rebounds. Against the Cardinals, Dionisio and Guiab combined for 32 points and 15 boards to hold down the fort down low.
The Heavy Bombers have some tough assignments against San Beda and LPU coming up, so they’ll need that frontcourt to be rock solid in support of their guard play if they want to keep banging with top teams.
5 Arellano University Chiefs | Record: 4-3 (Week 3 record: 1-1) | Last week: 4th-5th
Arellano looked to be on the verge of a slump after losing back-to-back games, including one against league-leading Benilde early this week. But they managed to bounce back strong in a chippy win against Mapua.
Axel Doromal and Cade Flores continue to be anchors for the Chiefs but Shane Menina’s contributions as an all-around threat has been huge. Against the Blazers, he dished out nine assists in a display of his playmaking prowess (he’s #2 in the league in assists per game) while he showed his scoring ability against the Cardinals, scoring 12 of his 13 points in the second half, including a clutch triple in the final minute.
Arellano has crashed back down to Earth somewhat following a 3-1 start but they’ve shown they have the capability get the job done, and that should keep them right in the thick of the fight.
6 University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Altas | Record: 3-3 (Week 3 record: 1-1) | Last week: 7th
Perpetual split their games again this week to remain at .500, much like they’ve been for most of this season. It’s not ideal, and they would probably want to string together some wins at some point, but at this point in the season, it’s not the worst place to be.
The good news is that gunner Jielo Razon seems to finally be finding his groove, averaging 15.67 points in the last three games, including their two assignments this week. That number would place him Top-5 if he was averaging that all season, right beside teammate Kim Aurin. If he can provide a consistent scoring threat beside Aurin, that makes the ALTAs much more dangerous.
This good news for this team is that it hasn’t exactly been firing on all cylinders yet, so they might have some more upside they can reach if they peak later in the season.
7 Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights | Record: 3-3 (Week 3 record: 1-2) | Last week: 2nd
This wasn’t a good week for Letran in the slightest. They had something of a Pyrrhic victory against Mapua early in the week in a game that saw both Louie Sangalang and Brent Paraiso ejected from the game - and neither player has seen the floor since as both players served suspensions in their San Beda and LPU contests, with both turning out to be defeats. Their 3-3 record isn’t too bad considering it’s still fairly early in the season. But the Knights have only been able to show flashes of their potential.
With the team undermanned, the Knights’ backcourt duo of Fran Yu and Kurt Reyson looked comfortable picking up the scoring cudgels, combining to average better than 30 points per game this week. They’ve also knocked down 18 three-pointers in the last two games and on an efficient 42.8-percent shooting from beyond the arc.
But Letran needs to find a way to sustain their hot starts. In both losses, they built huge first quarter leads (17 points against San Beda and 16 against LPU) but let the games slip away. A complete lineup with the added depth would probably help with that, but the champs need to show more of that championship poise everyone knows is in them.
8 San Sebastian College-Recoletos Golden Stags | Record: 2-3 (Week 3 record: 0-1) | Last week: 8th
San Sebastian only had one game this week, a four-point heartbreaker to Perpetual. The Stags have managed to keep games close in their losses, but haven’t always gotten the job done in the end. This is a competitive team with plenty of fight, but it needs to find that extra gear.
They might find that with the improved play of Kenneth Villapando, who has averaged 13.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game in the last two games. They’re getting more production from guys like Jessie Sumoda and Rhinwill Yambing of late, but they’re missing the usual contribution from their backcourt, led by Ichie Altamirano, who has shot just 3-for-16 in the last two.
It’s going to take some work, but the Stags aren’t far behind and have plenty of time to climb their way up the standings.
9 Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals | Record: 0-5 (Week 3 record: 0-1) | Last week: 10th
EAC suffered another defeat to remain without a win this week, but they’re not in last place in the power rankings because they somehow didn’t have the worst week among the NCAA teams this week. The Generals put up a strong stand against league-leading Benilde coming back to within five from a 12-point deficit in the fourth. But the Blazers made the necessary plays to put EAC away.
Allen Liwag continues to be a walking double-double but he needs a lot more help. Ralph Robin seems determined to shoot his way out of his slump, taking 22 field goal attempts for 15 points against Benilde. He showed what he could do last season, so there’s hope that he can help turn things around for EAC if he can find his form.
10 Mapua University Cardinals | Record: 0-7 (Week 3 record: 0-3) | Last week: 9th
Mapua no doubt had one of the hardest weeks ay team could go through. They entered the week with a 1-3 record but somehow found themselves at 0-7 after losing three games and forfeiting their earlier win over San Beda.
The Season 97 finalists have been in games all season long. This week, they lost all of their games by five points or less, but somehow could not break through against any of Letran, JRU, or Arellano. It will be tough not to be demoralized after this winless start, but the Cardinals will have to manage it if they want to start digging themselves out of this hole.
—JMB, GMA News
