The Letran Knights are finding out that life without Titing Manalili isn’t easy. He is, after all, their best player. Scratch that. He is one of college basketball’s very best, and his pre-injury numbers—13.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, 10.2 assists, and 4.0 steals—prove that beyond any doubt.
Denzil Walker, one of Letran’s other pillars in NCAA Season 102, knows fully well the value of having Manalili around. In fact, he described the league’s assist king as the Knights’ “heartbeat” after last season’s runners-up survived a tough challenge from the JRU Heavy Bombers on Wednesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
“It’s hard when somebody like Manalili goes down, because that’s the heartbeat of our team, of course,” Walker told Rebanse in an exclusive interview.
In the two prior games the Knights played without their heartbeat, they lost an 82-81 thriller to the Arellano Chiefs and then fell to the Mapua Cardinals, 69-67, in overtime.
Nat Montecillo Steps Up
On Wednesday, Letran won for the first time this season with Manalili sidelined. And backup point guard Nat Montecillo had plenty to do with that. In a little over 28 minutes, Montecillo tallied 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1 steal as he stepped up in Manalili’s absence.
“Montecillo did a good job of stepping up tonight and holding us together and making sure that we’re all on the same page,” Walker said of the 5-foot-9 guard.
That’s what good point guards do—they rally a team together. That’s what Manalili always seems to do when he’s out there quarterbacking for Letran. That’s what Montecillo did on Wednesday for the Knights.
But that’s just one game. Now, the challenge for Nat Montecillo is to do it a few times more since Manalili is expected to be sidelined anywhere from two to four weeks.
