By Kevin Estrada
Colegio de San Juan de Letran narrowly averted a collapse down the stretch as it subdued Emilio Aguinaldo College, 75-73 in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Wednesday at the FilOil-EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The Knights saw their big lead nearly evaporated by the rally of the Generals in the second half. The Intramuros-based squad eventually hung tough down the stretch to secure a share of second place with Perpetual Help with an identical 4-2 record.
“It’s toughness”, said coach Allen Ricardo after the game. “Kelangan natin matapatan natin yung toughness ng EAC. Kahit anong mangyari, kelangan ma-overcome natin yun.”
Center Kevin Santos had a breakout performance for Letran, scoring 17 points and displaying his defensive brilliance by adding six blocks to his stat line.
Forward Deo Cuajao contributed 14 with the backcourt duo of John Sherick Estrada and Nat Montecillo bucked foul trouble to finish with 11 and 9 markers, respectively.
The Knights even led by as much as 17 (50-33) in the early part of the third quarter after a Montecillo three-pointer, but were pegged back by horrid ball handling by committing 25 turnovers, which EAC converted into 29 points.
Guard King Gurtiza found his rhythm after that, scoring 15 of his 19 points in the second half. The Generals came within a point twice in that span, most notably with 3:16 remaining in the fourth quarter after Wilmar Oftana’s driving lay-up brought them closer at 67-68.
However, Letran got their composure right on time as Santos capped off his solid outing with an emphatic dunk from an Estrada assist for a 74-70 buffer before intercepting an Axel Doromal pass with 16 seconds to go.
Cuajao secured the victory with a free throw, while Doromal’s last-second three-pointer was a consolation for EAC, who are now tied for seventh place with San Sebastian and JRU at 2-4.
The scores:
LETRAN 75 – Santos 17, Cuajao 14, Estrada 11, Javillonar 10, Montecillo 9, Miller 8, Nunag 4, Jumao-As 2, Tagotongan 0, Galoy 0, Dimaano 0, Pradella 0, Baliling 0
EAC 73 – Gurtiza 19, Loristo 11, Jacob 11, Doromal 7, Oftana 6, Ochavo 4, Pagsanjan 4, Luciano 3, Bacud 3, Lucero 2, Bagay 2, Postanes 1, Quinal 0, Devara 0, Umpad 0
Quarter scores: 25-15, 47-33, 60-56, 75-73
Images courtesy of NCAA Media Bureau
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