Instead of a celebration, the undefeated Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights could instead get an earful from head coach Bonnie Tan after barely surviving an upset scare against Lyceum of the Philippines University.
The defending champions never got momentum until the last few minutes with Fran Yu hitting a timely jumper that gave them an 80-77 lead.
A steal from the gutsy guard then stopped Lyceum's Renzo Navarro from making a potential game-tying basket as Letran came away with the win, their fifth in as many games.
Prior to Yu's basket, though, big man Jeo Ambohot missed two free throws that could have given them some separation from the Pirates.
"Sigurado papagalitan kami [ni coach]," Ambohot quipped, referring to his miss from the charity stripes.
"Baka sabihin ni coach Bonnie na nag-relax kami. 'Di naman namin in-underestimate 'yung kalaban namin pero kasi may mas ibubuga pa kasi kami eh. Kaya baka pagalitan kami mamaya."
Despite his miscues late, though, Ambohot was otherwise stellar in the contest, tallying 13 points, 13 rebounds, and five blocks in the win.
Tan, for his part, said he will not need to scold his players.
He believes his Knights are already aware of the mistakes they committed in the game, where they incurred 22 turnovers.
"Alam nila kung anong sasabihin ko kasi alam na nila 'yung mga faults nila kanina, lalo na 'yung mga useless errors. So iisa-isahin namin 'yon," Tan shared.
—JMB, GMA News
