JOSE Rizal University nearly squandered a 16-point lead early in the fourth period but recovered in time to run away with a 67-56 win on Wednesday and advance to the Filoil Flying V Preseason Premier Cup semifinals in San Juan.
Teytey Teodoro topscored for the Heavy Bombers with 23 points including a triple that gave the team a comfortable 62-54 lead entering the final two minutes.
A pair of free throws by Teodoro in the ensuing play put the game away as the Flacons went gun shy from long distance after slicing a 54-38 deficit to five.
Ervin Grospe had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Heavy Bombers, who jumped to a 23-11 lead on the way to claiming a semifinal spot in the preseason tournament for the first time since 2008.
"It's defense that carried us the whole game," said JRU coach Vergel Meneses.
"The good thing dito is how we recovered. After I called a timeout nag-start uli run namin."
JRU faces San Beda, which eliminated University of the Philippines.
Cameroon's Papi Sarr paced the Falcons with 19 points and 18 rebounds, while Jerrick Ahanmisi added 15 markers.
The scores:
JRU 67 – Teodoro 23, Grospe 16, Mendoza 9, Lasquety 6, Dela Virgen 5, Poutouoch 2, Mate 2, Abdulwahab 2, Sawat 2.
Adamson 56 – Sarr 19, Ahanmisi 15, Manganti 11, Pingoy 9, Zaldivar 2, Manalang 0, Mustre 0, Camacho 0, Espeleta 0, Ochea 0.
Quarterscores: 23-11; 40-27; 53-38; 67-56.
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