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MANILA, Philippines – The Mapua Cardinals secured the remaining Final Four seat in the NCAA men’s basketball with a 64-59 win over the St. Benilde Blazers on Wednesday at The Arena in San Juan.

The Cardinals rebounded from their 76-85 loss to San Sebastian last Monday with a tough game against the tenacious Blazers.

Rodel Ranises led Mapua with 15 points on 4-of-6 field goal shooting.

“Sobrang saya [for this win], kasi first time kong maglaro sa Final Four,” he said in the post-game interview.

The Cardinals also received added fire power from Allan Mangahas who scored 13 points aside from bringing down 5 rebounds.

St. Benilde battled from a 6-point deficit in the first quarter to give Mapua a tough run in the next two frames.

However, the Cardinals rode on Ranises’ hot shooting from the arc and Mangahas’ daring slashes inside the paint to overcome the Blazers.

Leading the Final Four cast are San Beda and defending champion San Sebastian. The last two teams in the semi-finals are Jose Rizal University and Mapua.

Meanwhile, Perpetual Altas finally scored a win this season over the Emilio Aguinaldo Generals, 69-52.

Although it was a non-bearing game as both teams are already out of the Final Four race, it definitely boosted the morale of Perpetual (1-14).

“Masaya kami kasi first win namin. Bago man lang matapos ang season at least nakaisa na kami,” said Arnold Danganan, who top scored the Altas with 23 points. He also hauled down 2 rebounds and had 1 assist.