Colegio de San Juan de Letran head coach Bonnie Tan shared that his team was brimming with confidence before even stepping into the hardcourt against the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde on Saturday.
That confidence translated in a 74-66 win against previously league-leading Benilde, but Tan pointed in particular to his bigs Louie Sangalang and Paolo Javillonar in matching up with Benilde's MVP candidate Will Gozum.
Tan shared it was his challenge for the two slotmen to limit Gozum, who has been logging double-doubles on the regular in NCAA Season 98.
"Will Gozum is playing his best season siguro, running for MVP and ayun 'yung challenge namin with our bigs namely Louie and Pao," Tan said.
"Sabi namin na if dalawa naman kayo, pwede tayong manalo dyan sa isang tao na key player ng CSB."
Prior to their game, the 6-foot-7 Gozum was the leading scorer in the league with an average of 18.36 points while he was fourth in rebounds with 9.36 boards a game.
Though he grabbed 13 big rebounds, Gozum scored only 12 points on 6-for-16 shooting (37.5%) against the Letran frontline.
Sangalang, meanwhile, scored 21 points, including a crucial three-point play opportunity in the final 30 seconds, alongside nine rebounds and three blocks. Javillonar backed him up with eight points and three boards.
More importantly, the Knights (11-3) were able to claim the top spot in the standings after handing the 9-3 Blazers their third loss of the season, with two of those losses coming to Letran.
For Gozum's part, he will use this loss as a learning experience into getting to his best version as a big man.
"Siguro mas aggressive lang sila sa amin and for sure mas aaralin namin 'to, kaming mga big man," the Benilde star said.
"Hindi lang naman ako 'yung bumantay kay Sangalang so irereview namin lahat and mas pagbubutihan pa namin."
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
