Knights escape Bombers in OT

With no legitimate scoring option, Letran College would simply rely on hustle and a little bit of luck to win games. With this, they have remained undefeated in the tournament so far.

Last year’s runners-up once again thrived on hustle and open-court basketball and although winning does not look regal this season, they once again escaped with a 69-66 overtime victory against the upset-minded Jose Rizal University, 69-66, at The Arena in San Juan on Saturday.

Down by as much as 11 in a low-scoring first half and trailing by nine at the end of the third quarter, the Knights’ last quarter run was anchored on five unanswered points by reserve shooter Kevin Buenaflor to come by within four, 44-48, early in the last canto.

Despite two 25-foot three-pointers by Chief Bomber Paolo Pontejos to stave off Letran’s run, the Knights went open court to counter the Bombers’ full court press, with two fast break layups by Kevin Racal off end-to-end passes by Mark Cruz to put the game to overtime at 60-60.

In the extra period, the nights went relentless in their running game and penetrations, drawing numerous fouls that resulted in the fouling out of key Bombers Michael Mabulac, Jordan de la Paz, Nick Abanto, and Philip Paniamogan.

The Bombers’ penchant to foul in the open court resulted in 7-of-10 free throw conversions by the Knights, which was enough for them to escape with their third win in the season.

“Yung open court offense at press breaks, prinactice namim yan noong off-season,” explained Racal, who tallied 11 points and 10 rebounds, after the game. “Yung [game-tying] layup ko, eye contact lang yun with Mark Cruz then parang pasa sa [American] football lang, then pagkakuha ko na pasa, touchdown.”

“It was a bad shooting night for us, especially from the outside, and the calls were not favoring us” said Letran head coach Caloy Garcia after the game. “So we have to adjust by playing more inside and by avoiding defensive fouls. The breaks of the game went to us because of our adjustment.”

Last week’s player of the week Raymond Almazan led his team with 12 points, 13 rebounds, and two blocks while power forward Jamil Gabawan added 11 points and seven rebounds. Pontejos was the lone star for the 1-2 Bombers with 20 points and five rebounds.

Pirates cruise to second win

In the first game, Lyceum of the Philippines reduced the erstwhile hot scoring Mapua into minced meat, routing them by a count of 74-59.

According to Lyceum’s head coach Bonnie Tan, the team focused on playing lockdown defense against main Cardinals Kenneth Ighalo and Joseph Eriobu. After combining for 51 points in the last win versus the San Sebastian Stags, the Fil-African duo combined for only nine points against their Intramuros neighbors.

Lyceum’s top scorer Dexter Zamora added that his team wes “flat” in their outside shooting in their last game versus the Arellano Chiefs and aside from preparing defensively against Mapua’s aces, they “focused [in] improving [their] outside shooting.”

He scored five points off outside shots early in the fourth quarter to start a hot Lyceum shooting spree to translate the once neck-and-neck game into a blowout, while team captain Shane Ko sustained the run with key assists and fastbreak layups.

Zamora led the 2-1 Pirates with 22 points on top of 4-of-7 three-point shooting while the 1-2 Cardinals were led by big men Jeson Cantos and Mark Brana, who scored 16 and 15 points, respectively.

BOX SCORES
First game
LYCEUM (74): Zamora 22, Ko 15, Baltazar 10, Francisco 8, Mbomiko 8, Azores 7, Ambohot 2, Mendoza 2, Lesmoras 0,Garcia 0, Taladua 0, Lacastesantos 0, Alanes 0
MAPUA (59): Cantos 16, Brana 15, Saitanan 9, Eriobu 6, Magsigay 4, Estrella 3, Isit 3, Ighalo 3, Gabo 0
QUARTERS: 14-10, 32-28, 50-47, 74-59

Second game
LETRAN (69): Almazan 12, Racal 11, Gabawan 11, Ruaya 8, Cruz 7, Buenaflor 7, Dysam 5, Nambatac 4, Publico 2, Tambeling 2, Luib 0
JOSE RIZAL (66): Pontejos 20, Mabulac 7, Paniamogan 7, Balagtas 7, Juanico 6, Sanchez 6, Lasquety 4, de la Paz 4, Abanto 2, Benavides 2, Gozum 1, Salaveria 0, Gorospe 0
QUARTERS: 6-8, 20-29, 39-46, 60-60, 69-66 (OT)