Nearly a week after their huge win against Mapua, Letran flexed their muscles yet again in a huge 74-43 rout against season host Perpetual in the continuation of the 87th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City on Friday.
Sophomore swingman VJ Espiritu showed what he could do, tallying 18 points in 20 minutes of action. Rookie guard Kevin Racal and third year star Kevin Alas each had 10 points.
“They really stepped up big,” said Letran head coach Louie Alas of Espiritu and Racal who had career scoring games, “Kung ganyan sila mag-laro, magiging deep ang bench namin.”
With the exception of a 2-2 tie in the early stages of the ballgame, the Knights led throughout the ballgame and extended their advantage to as large as 34 by the final stretch of the match. For the third straight match, the Altas were held down to less than 10 points in an ominous sign of a tough road ahead this season.
The Altas’ 26 percent field goal shooting was just the tip of the iceberg — their players were looking a little lost and gave away 22 points from 29 turnovers. Also, they managed to get outscored badly on the fastbreak, giving away 21 points in a runaway.
The hosts need to get their act together and quick to get out of this 0-3 hole they are in for the second straight season.
Jet Vidal was the lone bright spot for Perpetual, scoring 10 points in a losing cause.
In the other match, Calvin Abueva made his return to the NCAA hardwood in San Sebastian’s 86-78 master class against a youthful College of Saint Benilde to vault themselves into a three-way tie for first place along with.
The bruising Pampanga native came off the bench and filled in the stat sheet for 15 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists for his first double-double of the season. Big man Ian Sangalang, who did most of his damage in the shaded lane, added 16 points and 7 rebounds to lead the Stags’ balanced attack.
Benilde trailed by as much as 15 points through the early part of the third period before they made a spirited 15-3 comeback to cut down the deficit to just only three points. But the return of the first unit, led by big man Sangalang, as well as the contributions of some of the team’s young guns pushed the lead back up to 13 by the end of the period and never looked back.
Coach Topex Robinson, who took over the post from now-team consultant Turo Valenzona, is still tinkering with the players on his roster which includes team captain Anthony Del Rio whom he handled in the recent PBA D-League wars as part of the RNW Pacific Pipes squad.
“I was experimenting. I was trying to blend in the new guys with the veterans and give them confidence.”, said the recently retired guard who last played for the Alaska Aces in the Philippine Baskeball Association (PBA) under legendary coach Tim Cone.
Among those new guys who stepped up were Nueva Ecija native Krushev Ferrer and backup point guard Lyle Antipuesto. Ferrer lit up for an impressive 4-for-5 shooting en route to 10 points in limited play. Antipuesto, meanwhile, brought energy off the bench in backing up Jovit Dela Cruz and finished with 9 points.
After his D-League stint with the NLEX Road Warriors, Abueva said that he learned a lot about being mature and it changed him a lot. Now, he just plays the game in order for him to avoid accumulating one more flagrant foul that would mean that he would sit out the rest of the tournament.
Carlo Lastimosa, who dealt with a throat infection that forced him to sit out their opening weekend loss against Lyceum, scored 20 points to lead all scorers. Rookie Jonathan Grey pulled together 12 points, while Luis Sinco had 11 points and 6 assists in their second straight loss.
JUNIORS
First game: CSB-LSGH def. SSC-R, 86-65
(Quarters: 31-23, 52-39, 71-48, 86-65)
Second game: CSJL def. UPHSD, 69-44
(Quarters: 19-10, 37-21, 55-36, 69-44)
SENIORS
First game: SSC-R def. CSB, 86-78
(Quarters: 24-16, 49-35, 70-57, 86-78)
Second game: CSJL def. UPHSD, 74-43
(Quarters: 17-9, 40-22, 59-32, 74-43)
