The Letran Knights left no doubt on Tuesday, running past the Benilde Blazers, 83-72, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City to clinch their second straight win in the NCAA Season 102 Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Coming off a 70-66 victory over the JRU Heavy Bombers last Thursday, Letran improved to 6-3 in Group B to end the crossover round on a high note. That’s two statement wins over two of Group A’s top teams, and both came without star guard Titing Manalili, who remains out with a knee injury.
“Satisfied ako right now. But syempre, there’s always room for improvement. There are four teams before we go to the quarterfinals; we’re trying to build momentum going into the playoffs,” said Letran head coach Allen Ricardo.
Letran Takes Over Early
It was Denzil Walker who set the tone. After trailing 8-7 in the first quarter, Letran unleashed a 17-5 run behind Walker’s scoring and never looked back. The Knights kept rolling in the second, with Chad Gammad and Aaron Buensalida combining for 18 of their 24 points in the period, and carried a 48-35 lead into halftime.
The third quarter broke the game wide open. Letran kept shooting the lights out and stretched the lead to 19 before Nathaniel Montecillo capped the frame with a buzzer-beating three-pointer for a commanding edge heading into the fourth.
Benilde did make a late push, even as Letran’s Kevin Santos was ejected following a two-handed dunk midway through the final frame, but the Knights had already built a 24-point cushion. It was too little, too late for the Blazers.
“I just feel like today, we were everywhere on defense, like really giving them problems,” said Walker. “They had a lot of turnovers, so we were just capitalizing on that. We got really good transition players, so we were just making them pay for it.”
Who Stood Out?
Walker led all scorers with 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and steals. Justin Cargo and Buensalida chipped in 13 points apiece, while Santos added 10.
Benilde, on the other hand, dropped to 6-3 in Group A after back-to-back losses. Jhommel Ancheta and SJ Moore tallied 12 points apiece in the defeat.
Letran will look to carry momentum against the San Sebastian Golden Stags on Friday, October 23, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan. The Blazers, on the other hand, will try to bounce back on Monday, October 26, when they clash with the Mapua Cardinals, also at the same venue.
