By REYNALD MAGALLON
Justin Arana showed the way in the second half as Arellano rediscovered its winning ways, defeating Mapua, 72-63, in the NCAA Season 97 yesterday at the La Salle Green Hills Gym in Mandaluyong.
Arana carried the Chiefs on his back in the payoff period where they took the fight out of the stubborn Cardinals side to finally arrest a three-game slide.
The Chiefs also managed to catch Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals and Perpetual Help Altas in the middle of the standings with identical 2-3 records halfway through the eliminations.
Arana delivered his best outing since suffering from a knee sprain in their first game with a double-double of 17 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. Jordan Sta. Ana and Art Oliva backstopped him with 15 and 10 markers respectively.
He played in the last two losses of the Chiefs, the latest an 87-70 drubbing at the hands of Perpetual, although was obviously bothered by the knee injury.
The Chief held a comfortable 58-48 lead in the early goings of the fourth quarter but the Cardinals embarked to a 12-4 uprising behind the efforts from Jeric Pido, Toby Agustin and Rhenz Nocum to cut the lead down to just two 62-60.
Sta. Ana answered back with a layup before Arana struck hard with six straight points, the last one where he split through two Mapua defenders for a 70-60 cushion with 1:13 left in the game.
Warren Bonifacio was the lone bright spot for the Cardinals with 11 points and 10 rebounds as no other player scored in double figures in his team.
Arellano had a blistering start, building the first double digit spread in the opening frame 23-13.
Mapua battled back with a 15-5 counter to tie the game 28-all but Arellano used a 10-2 spurt to retake the lead which it never relinquished the rest of the way.
The scores:
ARELLANO 72 – Arana 17, Sta. Ana 15, Olivia 10, Doromal 9, Carandang 6, Sablan 4,Uri 4, Caballero 3, Cruz 2, Dela Cruz 2, Valencia 0
MAPUA 63 – Bonifacio 11, Pido 9, Nocum 9, Garcia 8, Agustin 7, Gamboa 7, Hernandez 7, Lacap 5, Mercado 0, Asuncion 0, sual 0, Salenga 0, Milan 0
Quarters: 23-19, 41-35, 56-48, 72-63