SAN BEDA Lions have a chance to reclaim old glory in meeting JRU. — NCAA/SYNERGY/GMA

Games Today
(Filoil EcoOil Centre)
12 p.m. — JRU vs San Beda
3 p.m. — Perpetual vs EAC

WITH sheer hard work and a dose of luck, San Beda has managed to sneak its way back into respectability.

Now the Lions want more — a chance to return to their old dominance.

Spurred by its emphatic victory over bitter rival Letran and a triumph via forfeiture over Mapua, the league’s most titled team in the last two decades will have a chance to reclaim old glory as it faces a dangerous Jose Rizal University (JRU) today for a share of the lead in NCAA Season 98 at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

The Lions subdued the three-peat-seeking Knights, 76-68, Friday and received another win the next day after the league forfeited the Mapua Cardinals’ 66-55 triumph over the former last Sept. 10.

The pair of results propelled San Beda to the third spot with a 4-1 card.

If San Beda could hurdle JRU, currently at No. 4 with a 3-2 mark, in their 12 p.m. showdown, it would jump to the top for the first time this season after a slow, timid start.

There, the Lions will join the St. Benilde Blazers and the Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates, who boast of identical 5-1 slates.

The Bombers are likewise riding the crest of their recent 67-64 OT win over the Cardinals Friday that saw them leapfrogging straight to the magic four with a 3-2 mark.

And if JRU could sustain the charge and pull the rug from under San Beda, it could position itself from within striking distance with the league’s big guns.

University of Perpetual Help, for its part, eyes to improve on its 3-3 record as it tangles with Emilio Aguinaldo College, winless in five starts, at 3 p.m. — Joey Villar

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