Letran’s Jam Cortes leaves behind three Mapua players to score on a layup during the NCAA basketball tournament game Monday at The Arena in San Juan City. The Knights won, 70-68, to boost their Final Four bid. (BOB DUNGO JR.)

Standings                W        L
San Sebastian        11       0
San Beda                   9       1
JRU                             8       2
Arellano                      7       4
Letran                         7        4
St. Benilde                 4        6
UPH                            3        8
EAC                             2        8
Mapua                         1       10
AUF                              1       10
—————
Games Wednesday
(The Arena, San Juan)
2 p.m. — CSB vs JRU (Srs)
4 p.m. — EAC vs SBC (Srs)

San Beda College and Jose Rizal University try to put some distance from their closest pursuers in the chase for the Final 4 seats on Wednesday when they face separate rivals in the NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
 
The defending champions Red Lions shoot for their ninth straight win and 10th overall against the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals at 4 p.m. while the Heavy Bombers gun  for their ninth win in 11 starts with a 2 p.m. date with the College of St. Benilde Blazers.

The Lions are in solo second with a 9-1, win-loss mark while the Bombers are third wait 8-2.
 
Victories by both squads will keep them in their respective spots while giving them considerable edge in the hunt for the Final 4 over Arellano and Letran, which are currently tied at fourth with similar 7-4 slates.

The Lions beat Mapua, 84-75, behind the heroics of Jake Pascual and Garvo Lanete, to notch their eighth straight win and move just half a game behind league leader San Sebastian, which remained unbeaten after11 starts.

Pascual and Lanete stepped up their games on a day their go-to-guy Sudan Daniel was off. Pascual fired 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds and dished out two assists while Lanete had 17 markers.

American Daniel could not provide enough firepower that game as he only had eight points. But he was efficient on the defensive end with six blocks, a swat short from tying his season-best.

San Beda mentor Frankie Lim expects the 6-foot-8 Daniel to come out fiercer today.

“Su (Daniel) would need to assert himself even more,” Lim said. “I think no one can stop him (Daniel) in this league, once he’s in the zone. The only person who can stop him is himself.”

Against the Generals, who are aiming to breathe new life to their flickering semis hopes after dropping eight of their first 10 outings, the Lions are tipped to prevail.

The Lions handily beat the Generals, 95-71, in the first round.

Despite the advantage, Lim, however, is not taking any chances.

“We’ll come out aggressive the same way we do against other teams,” said Lim, who is hoping to steer his squad to its fourth straight title.

Their 82-68 win against Perpetual last week should give the Bombers the needed momentum in their rematch against Blazers.

The Bombers, last year’s runner, are expected to lean anew on John Agas, who had a career-high 27 points last time out. Agas played the hero’s role on a day JRU’s stalwarts John Wilson and James Sena struggled.

JRU mentor Ariel Vanguardia is hoping his big guns will flash their A-games today especially that they will be up against the Blazers, who are aching to bounce back from a stinging 72-82 defeat to the Chiefs.