Mark Cruz led the charge for the Knights against their arch-rival Red Lions. Jeff Venancio
Letran took advantage of the absence of Nigerian Ola Adeogun and pounded San Beda, 64-53, to remain in the thick of things in the 90th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City on Wednesday.
Mark Cruz led all scorers with 17 points as the Knights snared their third win against six losses.
Adeogun did not play because he missed his team's last practice.
The Knights used a 23-point cushion early in the fourth quarter to fend off a furious comeback put up by the Lions.
With the win, Letran gained a measure of revenge its stinging finals defeat to San Beda, which has won four straight championships and seven of the last eight.
The loss sent San Beda in a tie for No. 1 with an idle Arellano University with identical 7-2 (win-loss) records.
Jonathan Grey helped Benilde move into fourth place after defeating Perpetual. Jeff Venancio
In the first game, College of St. Benilde outplayed Perpetual Help down the stretch to escape with a come-from-behind 77-73 victory.
The Blazers outscored the Altas, 15-4, in the final six minutes to turn a seven-point deficit to their fifth victory against four losses and join the latter and the Lyceum Pirates in a three-way logjam at No. 3 at the end of the first round of elimination.
St. Benilde's matched its total win output from last season with still the whole second round left in the schedule, a no easy feat for a school with a reputation going into this season of blowing won games.
"We're happy we've made a big leap but there is nothing to celebrate about yet because we're only halfway through the eliminations," said St. Benilde coach Gabby Velasco.
The Altas blew a 13-point third quarter lead, recovered to take a one-point lead in the stretch before imploding again the rest of the way.
The last straw was when Juneric Baloria missed two of three free throws with 3.2 seconds. The Lanao del Norte native would have tied the match and force overtime if he had made all of his foul shots.
Jonathan Grey led his team with 19 points while Luis Sinco, Mark Romero and Roberto Bartolo, Jr. chipped in 15, 13 and 12 points, respectively, to help the Blazers make it to the upper half of the standings for the first time in the season.
Baloria wound up pacing the Altas with 22 points while Earl Scottie Thompson added 20 in the losing cause.
Meanwhile, the NCAA will hold its first ever All-Star game by pitting the league's cream of the crop divided into two teams--the East and West--on Saturday at The Arena in San Juan City.
The event, which will also feature a slam dunk competition and a three-point shootout at 1:30 p.m., is set at 3 p.m. to be preceded by a Ms. NCAA Beauty Pageant at 10:30 a.m.
NCAA Management Committee chair Paul Supan of Jose Rizal said the All-Star will be for a cause.
"Proceeds of this event will go to charity," said Supan. — JST, GMA News
The scores
First Game
First Game
St. Benilde 77 - Gray 19, Sinco 15, Romero 13, Bartolo 12, Taha 9, Saavedra 4, Nayve 3, Ongtenco 2, Mercado 0, Altamirano 0, Deles 0
Perpetual 73 - Baloria 22, Thompson 20, Arboleda 12, Alano 11, Bantayan 3, Jolangcob 3, Gallardo 2, Dizon 0, Ylagan 0 Lucente 0, Pido 0
Quarters: 11-14; 37-41; 58-63; 77-73
Second Game
Letran 64 - Cruz 17, Nambatac 9, Gabawan 9, Publico 7, Ruaya 6, Tambeling 6, Singontiko 5, Dela Pena 2, Racal 2, Quinto , Calvo 0, Caastro 0, Saldua 0, Luib 0, Apreku 0
San Beda 53 - Dela Cruz 16, Mendoza 14, A. Semerad 5, Sara 4, Pascual 4, Amer 3, Cabanag 2, Solera 2, Koga 0, Mocon 0, Abude 0, Abatayo 0, Tongco 0
Quarters: 16-6; 33-13; 49-29; 64-53
