12 October 2018
By Maxine Louise Lagman
Manila, Philippines – Colegio de San Juan de Letran survived the gritty University of Perpetual Help, 82-80, and clinched the third spot in the NCAA Season 94 men’s basketball tournament on Friday at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.
The Knights now strengthened their hold on the third seed in the tournament with a 13-4 win-loss record and will face the top two teams in the league, San Beda University (15-1) and Lyceum of the Philippines University (15-2), who both have twice-to-beat advantage.
Altas will also face the Lyceum and San Beda next week after settling on the fourth spot in the league standings.
It was a wire-to-wire game to start with. Letran was only four points up in the last minute of the game when Edgar Charcos knocked down a much-needed triple for Perpetual that cut the deficit to one, 79-80.
Perpetual was still in possession when JP Calvo took a steal and passed the ball to team captain Bong Quinto, who made it under the basket 81-80.
Time ran out as Quinto shot one of his two freebies, sealing the win for Letran once again.
Quinto finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Calvo had 17 markers and seven assists.
Rey Peralta led the Altas with 17 points off the bench, while Charcos chipped in 16 markers and eight dimes. Big man Prince Eze added a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds in the losing effort.
The Scores:
Letran 82 – Quinto 22, Calvo 17, Muyang 11, Ambohot 8, Batiller 8, Fajarito 6, Galvelo 3, Celis 3, Taladua 2, Balagasay 2, Yu 0, Mandreza 0.
Perpetual 80 – Peralta 17, Charcos 16, Eze 14, Jimenez 13, Razon 9, Coronel 8, Mangalino 3, Aurin 0, Cuevas 0.
Quarters: 23-18, 43-44, 63-63, 82-80.
Follow the writer on Twitter: @meanxi
Photo Gallery at https://www.facebook.com/Burnsports/
