Letran braces for surging Mapua in NCAA crossover round

Manila Times - Oct 12, 2026

MANILA, Philippines —  Colegio de San Juan de Letran, the Group B leader in the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament, needs to overcome Mapúa University in the crossover round to retain its hold on top of the standings on Monday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan. The Letran Knights (4-2) look to pick up back-to-back wins when they face the Mapúa Cardinals (3-3) at 3 p.m., followed by Jose Rizal University’s (JRU) (5-1) clash and Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) (2-4) duel at 5 p.m. Playing without Titing Manalili, who suffered a right-knee injury on Friday, Letran must find a way to get past the Cardinals, who are riding a three-game winning streak. Mapúa opened the season with three straight losses but has since bounced back with big wins over San Beda, Arellano, and EAC. Veteran Marc Cuenco led the way in their most recent victory against EAC with 28 points, while Ivan Lazarte added 24. On Letran’s side, Manalili has been a key playmaker. He finished with 23 points and 12 assists in the Knights’ win over Lyceum on Thursday. With him sidelined, Letran will bank on Jimboy Estrada and Denzil Walker to counter Mapúa’s sharpshooting duo of Cuenco and Lazarte. After their clash,...

Read full article

More News

Eala on track for Alexandrova, Fernandez rematch

Oct 11, 2026

Eala on track for Alexandrova, Fernandez rematch

FILIPINO sensation Alex Eala is on track for a rematch against Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova or a rubber match against Canadian Leylah Fernandez at the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open in China. World No. 18 Eala needs to get past a qualifier in her opening match likely on Monday before facing either No. 28 Alexandrova or No. 26 Fernandez who is of Filipino descent. Alexandrova and Fernandez were pitted against each other as the draw revealed on Saturday. Tournament No. 13 seed Eala battled Alexandrova at the Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinals where she fell to the latter, 3-6, 3-6, last February. Meanwhile, Eala first took on Fernandez at the Stuttgart Open round of 32, where she fell to the fellow lefty, 1-6, 4-6, last April. Eala exacted revenge on Fernandez at the Mubadala DC Open, dethroning the Fil-Canadian in the round of 16, 6–2, 7–6(1), and eventually ruled the tournament for her first WTA title last August. In the doubles of this Wuhan tournament, Eala will reunite with close pal Zeynep Sönmez. The Filipino-Turkish tandem will face the Ukrainian duo of Anhelina Kalinina and Dayana Yastremska in the first round. Eala and Sönmez last teamed up at the Madrid Open last May in Spain where they made a second round finish. Meanwhile, Eala is set to slip a spot to No. 19 in the WTA rankings on Monday. The live rankings on Sunday revealed Eala's slight descent from her career-high rank No. 18. Elise Mertens leaping from No. 19 to No. 14 bumped Eala down the rankings. Eala currently has 2,276 total ranking points.