Lions trip Archers in duel of champs

MANILA, Philippines -  Robert Bolick fired 27 points as San Beda outsteadied La Salle down the stretch to hack out an 82-80 victory in a duel of collegiate champions in the Filoil Flying V Premier Cup at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan last night.

Bolick poured it all out against his former team, taking charge in the clutch to lift the NCAA titlists to the two-point win over the reigning UAAP champions. It was San Beda’s third straight win as it wrested the lead in Group A.

The Archers fell to 3-2.

Earlier, Jerie Pingoy stepped up in the clutch as Adamson held off University of the Philippines, 58-50, to nail the first quarterfinals slot.

Far Eastern U and Jose Rizal trounced Mapua, 99-84, and University of Santo Tomas, 61-55, respectively, to close in on the playoff spots.

Mapua dropped to 0-6 while UST slid to 1-4.

Pingoy, a transferee from Ateneo, hit two triples in the final period, the last with a minute-and-a-half left in the contest as the Falcons built enough cushion to thwart the Maroons and move into the next round with a 6-1 card.

The Falcons also held their rivals to just four points in the last four minutes to clinch the victory and rebound from their stinging setback to the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals last week.

Skipper Robbie Manalang and Sean Manganti led the San Marcelino-based squad with 11 points apiece but it was Pingoy, who took over in the clutch as Jerick Ahanmisi struggled for just seven points after averaging 16 markers.

Pingoy wound up with eight points.

“We’re just showing off flashes of what we can do. We tend to drift away from what we’re supposed to be doing and let the players’ egos get involved in the game,” said Adamson coach Franz Pumaren. 

UP fell to 3-1.