Colegio de San Juan de Letran put a stain on Perpetual’s previously spotless record with a nail-biting 63-56 win in the NCAA Season 101 on Wednesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.
The Knights nearly wasted a double-digit lead, but had the troika of Titing Manalili, Deo Cuajao, and Jimboy Estrada to thank in stopping the ALTAs comeback as they now surged to back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Estrada had his best game this season with 23 points together with eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals while Cuajao tallied 16 markers, highlighted by a huge triple late in the fourth. Manalili only had four points but collected 10 assists, two rebounds, and two steals.
Letran, which had a shock 0-3 start, improved to 2-3 in Group B while Perpetual saw its impressive four-game winning streak come to an end to go 4-1 in Group A.
"Number one 'yung health issues so medyo nakakabalik na 'yung mga bata, 100 percent na sila," Letran head coach Allen Ricardo said.
"And then for the past three games, nakikita namin 'yung mga downside ng plays namin, what went good, what went wrong."
(Number one is the health issues, so the players are getting back, they're at 100-percent... And then for the past three games, we were able to se downside to our plays, what went good, what went wrong.)
Letran unleashed a wild first half where Estrada, who missed one game due to flu, dropped 17 huge points in the first two quarters alone to help the resurgent Knights take a 32-20 lead at the break.
But the ALTAs, who were unbeaten in their first four games in Group A, turned to Patrick Sleat, Mark Gojo Cruz, and John Abis in mounting a huge third quarter that saw the Las Piñas crew pull within just two, 37-39.
Cuajao, however, proved to be the man for the clutch moments.
He buried two triples, including one right before the buzzer, as Letran held on to a slim 50-45 cushion to close out the penultimate period.
Perpetual continued to knock on Letran's door in the fourth with Shawn Orgo knocking down a three-pointer of his own before Sleat beat the shot clock to complete a layup and bring the ALTAs to within three, 51-54.
Perpetual even managed to cut the deficit to one after Jearico Nuñez sank a pair of free throws.
But Cuajao was just unstoppable from beyond the arc, hitting a huge three-pointer off the find from Estrada to bring Letran back to a 57-53 lead in the final 3:17.
Manalili then issued the pass to a cutting big man Mark Omega, whose layup at the 2:33 mark allowed Letran to take a six-point advantage over his former team.
Perpetual made another desperate comeback courtesy of a corner triple from Orgo, but Manalili and Estrada sealed the upset victory at the line after each shooting a pair of freebies.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
