24 September 2019
By Maxine Louise Lagman
MANILA, Philippines – Colegio de San Juan de Letran surged in the payoff period to defeat De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, 87-74, on Tuesday in the NCAA Season 95 men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.
It was a close match in the first three quarters of the game until the Knights managed to take a 64-61 lead entering the fourth frame.
But, Kendrix Belgica and Unique Naboa combined for back-to-back baskets to immediately takeover a slim 65-64 advantage. Fran Yu answered back with a triple to get back the lead to Letran, but Yankie Haruna’s layup tied the game again, 67-all.
Seven minutes left in the game, Letran found a break with Bonbon Batiller’s triple, followed by his free throw shots after CSB assistant coach Charles Tiu was called for unsportsmanlike behavior. The Knights never looked back as Ato Ular threw a slam dunk followed by another three-pointer from Yu that gave them a comfortable 82-74 cushion.
“It’s all about defense, tapos na-lessen namin ‘yung errors namin,” said Letran head coach Bonnie Tan as his team only committed eight turnovers. “We controlled the boards, and we lessened our errors.”
Ular led Letran with 20 points, while Yu had 19 markers, eight assists, and four rebounds as they improved to a 9-4 win-loss record.
On the other hand, Haruna paced the Blazers with 19 points as they dropped to a 6-6 slate this season after losing six of their last seven games.
The Scores:
LETRAN 87 – Ular 20, Yu 19, Batiller 13, Muyang 10, Balanza 8, Ambohot 6, Caralipio 5, Olivario 4, Mina 2, Balagasay 0, Reyson 0, Javillonar 0
CSB 74 – Haruna 19, Gutang 9, Dixon 7, Carlos 6, Leutcheu 6, Naboa 6, Young 6, Belgica 6, Sangco 4, Nayve 3, Flores 2
Quarter scores: 24-17, 36-40, 64-61, 87-74.
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