NCAA: Knights dump Generals, 68-47

Playing its last game of the season, Letran salvaged some measure of pride. The Knights demolished the lowly Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, 68-47, Monday at The Arena in San Juan to end the season on a winning note in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. The Knights drew strength from big man Jam Cortes, Jaypee Belencion and Junjun Alas as the Intramuros-based squad finished its campaign with seven wins and nine losses for fifth place. A consistent fixture in the Final Four, Letran will miss the semifinal round for the first time since 2002. But coach Louie Alas and his troops will try to bounce back strong next season. "We gained a lot of experience from this and hopefully, it will translate into positive results next season," said Alas. Playing in his third season, Cortes closed out the season by finishing with 15 points and 15 rebounds in 30 minutes of play. Belencion, who played his final collegiate game, also tallied 15 points and dished out four assists. Alas contributed 12 points and six boards. Point guard Franz Dysam, who made his Letran debut this season after previously seeing action with Perpetual Help, had six points, three assists and six steals in 29 minutes. Letran led from start to finish with Belencion putting his team up, 34-23, with a triple, 2:09 left in the second period. A 10-0 blast in the third, capped by Alas’ basket, pushed the Knights comfortably ahead, 47-25 with 6:31 to go and even padded their lead to as high as 25 points, 68-43, 2:17 to go. No General scored in double figures with Argel Mendoza leading the way with nine points. But Mendoza turned the ball over eight times as EAC ended its campaign with 10 consecutive losses for a disappointing 2-14 card. - RCJ, GMANews.TV