The Knights refused to take the armor down.
This as Colegio de San Juan de Letran preserved its immaculate slate after tripping San Sebastian College-Recoletos, 73-69, to remain undefeated in the NCAA Season 97 men's basketball tournament on Tuesday.
The win improved Letran's standing to 8-0 for an outright Final Four slot while San Sebastian play-in hopes suffered a huge blow as they dropped down to a 3-6 card.
Rhenz Abando led the way with 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block.
He got plenty of support from his big men as Louie Sangalang tallied 12 points and eight boards while Jeo Ambohot contributed 11 markers and six rebounds. Brent Paraiso, meanwhile, provided some extra scoring punch with 10 points.
Abando and Sangalang took care of business early, leading the Knights in the first half as they built a 32-24 lead with star transferee Abando collecting seven markers.
San Sebastian was also dealt a huge blow after Rommel Calahat was whistled for a disqualifying foul over an elbow hit on Letran's Tommy Olivario in the 6:08 mark of the second.
JM Calma, who racked up just four points at the first half, fueled an 8-2 run to open the third frame as San Sebastian got to within two, 32-34.
But then Letran got its act together, answering with a furious 13-3 blitz led by King Caralipio, 47-35, before the Stags' Michael Are drilled back-to-back triples as the period ended, 55-44, still in Letran's favor.
That lead widened to 15, 63-48, with Letran opening the payoff period with an 8-4 before Calma again came up with clutch baskets for a 69-62 affair.
Ken Villapando hit a big three-pointer to make it a five-point game, 72-67, with a little over a minute to go before Calma dropped a long two to make it a 72-69 game with 9.3 seconds left
But a split from the charity stripe courtesy of Ambohot and an offensive board off his own miss sealed the win for Letran.
Calma led San Sebastian with 22 points and 14 rebounds. He scored 10 of those points in the fourth period, where the Stags outscored the Knights by seven, 25-18.
No other Stag reached double figures with Ken Abarquez coming closest with nine points.
Letran still has one game left in the elimination round as it takes on San Beda University (7-1) in a big rivalry game that could decide the number one seed on Friday.
The scores:
Letran 73 - Abando 18, Sangalang 12, Ambohot 11, Paraiso 10, Caralipio 6, Olivario 5, Javillonar 4, Mina 4, Reyson 3, Yu 0, Fajarito 0.
San Sebastian 69 - Calma 22, Abarquez 9, Altamirano 8, Villapando 7, Are 6, Desoyo 5, Dela Cruz 5, Cosari 4, Shanoda 2, Calahat 1, Concha 0, Felebrico 0, Loristo 0, Gabat 0.
Quarters: 12-14, 32-24, 55-44, 73-69.
—JMB, GMA News
