Red Lions on the road for fourth straight; Mapua out to hurdle JRU for first win.

DEFENDING champion San Beda College eyes a fourth straight win when it takes on College of St. Benilde, even as Jose Rizal University guns for a second straight victory in today's doubleheader in the 87th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament at the Filol-Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The Red Lions and the Blazers tangle at 4 p.m., and while the Mendiola-based dribblers have all the advantages against the Blazers, San Beda coach Frankie Lim remains wary of St. Benilde's penchant of playing the zone.

“I guess they are going to zone us. We’ll just have to give them different looks,” Lim said.

The Lions secured their third straight victory at the expense of the Arellano Univesity Chiefs, 92=67, last Monday, to improve to solo third behind unbeaten San Sebastian (4-0) and Lyceum of the Philippines University (4-2).

Garvo Lanete, who averages 14.3 points a game, and inside specialists Jake Pascual, Kyle Pascual and Dave Marcelo will again lead San Beda in both offense and defense against the smaller Blazers.

The Blazers (1-2), will rely on the prolific Carlo Lastimosa (15.5 points) and back-ups Mark Romero (12.3 points and 7.3 rebounds) and Jan Tan (8.7 points).

The Heavy Bombers, meanwhile, are looking to get past the struggling Mapua Cardinals in their 2 p.m. Encounter.

The Mandaluyong-based dribblers hope to follow up on their 76-60 bombimg of the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals last July 12, while the Cardinals are looking to end a three-game slide behind another solid performance from Allan Mangahas and a more consistent Yousef Taha.