Games Friday (The Arena, San Juan) 10 a.m. - MIT vs AU (Jrs) 12 noon. - JRU vs Letran (Jrs) 2 p.m. - MIT vs AU (Srs) 4 p.m. - JRU vs Letran (Srs) Jose Rizal University begins its quest for another Final Four berth as it guns for win No. 7 against Letran while Mapua tries to get back on track this Friday at the start of the second round of eliminations in the 86th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan. Scrambling in their past two games, the Heavy Bombers are hoping to come out sharper against the Knights in their 4 p.m. encounter and stay within range of the league leaders. Holding a 6-2 card, the Bombers are closely behind defending champion San Sebastian College (7-1) and unbeaten San Beda College (8-0) and are on track for another semifinal stint after a third place finish last season. The Bombers barely beat a lowly Emilio Aguinaldo College side, 74-70 in overtime, last Aug. 13 and Mapua Cardinals, 84-80, last Wednesday - no thanks to their error-prone plays. Against the Generals, the Bombers had season-worst 31 turnovers although they were able to trim it down to 18 versus the Cardinals. This Friday, the Bombers should dish out a more solid game considering that they will be up the rejuvenated Knights, who are looking for their fourth win and a follow up to their 88-65 rout of the Generals last Monday. In that game, the Knights erupted for season-high 11 triples with Jaypee Belencion accounting for six to finish with a game-high 18 points. "I'm still looking for a back-to-back win this season. Hopefully we can achieve that next (second) round," said Letran mentor Louie Alas, who dropped below the .500 mark in the first round - a first time in his 10-year coaching career. Clashing in the 2 p.m. opener are the Arellano University Chiefs and the Cardinals, who are looking to rebound from that loss to JRU which snapped their three-game winning roll. Although favored to win owing to their deeper bench, the Cardinals should not take the Chiefs lightly considering their recent success - a pulsating 78-76 win against the Chiefs last week. JRU is expected to lean Marvin Hayes, Alex Alamario and Raycon Kabigting who knocked down 12 points each in the team's latest win. Facing them on the other side of the court are brothers Kevin and Kristoffer Alas, coach Louie's sons, Franz Dysam and Jamieson Cortes.
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