November 21, 2025 | 2:58pm
MANILA, Philippines — The Arellano Chiefs secured a coveted twice-to-beat advantage in the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball tournament after doing just enough in their matchup with the Mapua Cardinals, 62-58, Friday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Arellano, which lost by three points against Mapua in the first round of the eliminations, needed to win by at least four points to secure the second seed of Group A.
And they did just that.
The Chiefs thus finished the eliminations with a 7-6 win-loss record, tied with the Cardinals. But with the four point win, they rose to the second seed, while the defending champions dropped to the third place.
Mapua will now be facing the Benilde Blazers in the quarterfinals, in last season’s rematch. Arellano, on the other hand, will take on the Letran Knights, the third seed of Group B.
Arellano head coach Chico Manabat, in the postgame interview, said that their job is far from finished.
“Actually, masarap talaga [magka-twice-to-beat advantage], pero hindi pa tapos itong laban. Maraming pa tayong tatrabawin, siguro, bonus na to eh. Na meron kaming ganong advantage, pero hindi namin tinitake na advantage namin yun,” he said.
“Tine-take namin na lalo kami magtrabaho, kasi ganitong league na twice to beat, kailangan, wala, hindi namin ito advantage. Ang advantage namin, one game at a time, mananalo at mananalo kami. At gagawin namin yan.”
The Cardinals led by as much as 10 points, 33-23, in the first half, before Arellano tied things up in the third frame.
Mapua then turned a 45-all deadlock at the start of the fourth to a 54-45 lead after a pair of free throws by Marc Cuenco.
Ernest Geronimo put the Chiefs on the board with an and-one play, 48-54, with 5:56 remaining, which sparked Arellano back in it.
Drex delos Reyes hit a layup with 2:45 remaining to push Mapua ahead by five, 58-53, but it was the last points of the Cardinals in the game.
T-Mc Ongotan then hit four straight points, and Renzo Abiera dialed in a triple off the dribble to tow the winning team ahead, 60-58.
Crucial turnovers by Mapua down the stretch failed to give them the needed points, as Ongotan sank the dagger free throws with 11.3 seconds to go, 62-58.
Marc Cuenco and Yam Concepcion had chances to save Mapua’s twice-to-beat aspirations, but they could not connect.
Ongotan paced Arellano with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and four steals, while Abeira had 12 markers and seven boards. Geronimo chipped in 10 points.
Delos Reyes carried the offensive load for Mapua with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Cyril Gonzales and Recto had nine markers apiece. Clint Escamis struggled with just four points on 2-of-8 shooting in 27 minutes of play.