MANILA – Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights survived an endgame run by the San Sebastian College Stags for an 85-80 win in phase one of the NCAA Season 95 seniors basketball stepladder semifinals at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
After seeing its 77-63 advantage trimmed to 81-80 late in the final quarter, the Knights got a breather on a basket by King Caralipio and free throws by Fran Yu.
With the victory, the No. 3 seed Knights advanced to the second phase of the stepladder semifinals against No. 2-ranked Lyceum Pirates with the winner facing San Beda University Red Lions in the finals.
Graduating player Jerrick Balanza and Edson Batiller tallied 15 and 14 markers, respectively, while Yu had 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal for Letran.
“In the end, a win is a win,” said Knights head coach Bonnie Tan. “Isa lang masasabi ko. Ayaw ng mga veterans ko na last game nila. Gusto nila maglaro, mag-practice pa kami.”
RK Ilagan caught fire for the Golden Stags with career-high 36 points built on seven triples, mostly in the fourth quarter that allowed them to erase a 14 point Letran advantage.
Allyn Bulanadi and Alvin Capobres played their last game for the Golden Stags with the former netting 15 points on 5-of-17 shooting and the latter finishing with five points./PN
