MANILA – Fran Yu drilled a crucial triple in the endgame as Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights pulled off a 67-62 escape over Mapua University Cardinals in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball on Tuesday night at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
After seeing their 60-50 fourth quarter lead trimmed to 61-59 by a furious Mapua rally, Yu converted a three-pointer from way out with 46.7 seconds left to widen Letran’s advantage to 64-59.
Yu’s three-pointer more than made up for his two crucial turnovers in the final two minutes. He ended the match with 15 points, five assists, four rebounds, and three steals as the Knights surged to a 3-1 win-loss slate.
Pao Javillonar also scored double-digits for the defending champs with 14 points and three rebounds, but was taken back to the dugout midway in the final quarter after suffering from cramps.
“Happy with the players. Nag-step up end game and ‘yung composure, nandoon,” said Knights head coach Bonnie Tan. “A win’s a win pero iyon nga looking forward sa next game natin (vs San Beda).”
It was a testy game for Letran as two its players ejected as Brent Paraiso was called for a disqualifying foul for hitting Mapua’s Adrian Nocum in the head and Louie Sangalang following suit with a pair of technical fouls in the endgame.
But the Knights still showed its championship poise as it turned a 48-50 deficit to a 60-50 spread via a 12-0 scoring blast before the Cardinals threatened to within 59-61 on back-to-back hits by Bryan Lacap.
“Mapua played a very physical game, so we’re expecting that pero medyo kami iyong natalo sa huli dahil we have two players na na-thrown out sa endgame but my players showed composure,” Tan said.
Lacap led the way for the Cardinals with 12 points, four rebounds, and three steals, while Jasper Salenga contributed 11 markers. But Mapua succumbed to its fourth loss in five matches.
This was the first meeting between the Knights and the Cardinals since their best-of-three championship showdown in NCAA Season 97 where Letran bagged its second straight title in two matches.
BOX SCORE:
LETRAN 67 – Yu 15, Javillonar 14, Caralipio 8, Reyson 8, Monje 7, Sangalang 6, Paraiso 5, Santos 3, Olivario 1, Miclat 0, Tolentino 0.
MAPUA 62 – Lacap 12, Salenga 11, Hernandez 9, Nocum 8, Soriano 6, Pido 6, Bonifacio 4, Gamboa 4, Parinas 2, Garcia 0, Igliane 0.
Quarterscores: 10-15, 32-33, 46-48, 67-62./PN
