MANILA – Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights kicked off its three-peat bid in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball with a 101-97 overtime victory against the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers on Wednesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Kurt Reyson fired a career-high 31 points, including six three-point conversions as the Knights became victorious in its first NCAA game sans Season 97 Rookie of the Year-MVP Rhenz Abando who turned pro in South Korea.
King Caralipio had a double-double outing of 14 points and 11 rebounds to go with three steals and three assists. Brent Paraiso added 13 points and four steals while Fran Yu chimed in 12 points, six boards, five assists and three steals for Letran.
After seeing their 96-90 overtime lead turned to a 97-96 deficit, the Knights regained the advantage at 98-97 following a fastbreak layup by rookie Kobe Bryan Monje with 28.1 seconds left.
Yu then widened the lead to 99-97 for Letran with a split free throw before he drained two more charity shots with under 10 seconds left in the contest to secure the victory for the back-to-back NCAA champs.
“It’s all about heart and suwerte,” said Knights coach Bonnie Tan. “Going into the game, talagang blindfolded kami. Hindi pa namin alam kung paano pa manalo. Hindi ko alam kung sino pa ang first five namin. We were just blessed na na-pull through namin ito.”
“Kurt played a good game, 9 out of 14 (field goal shooting). Hindi puwersado ang mga tira. Free throws niya seven out of seven. Wala akong masabi sa mga bata. For me it is time for him to step up. Dati nao-overshadow siya ng ibang veterans,” he added.
John Amores finished with 19 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists while Agem Miranda chipped in 18 points, six assists and five boards as the Heavy Bombers dropped to 0-2 record.
In the second game, Lyceum of the Philippines Pirates overcame a slow start to topple Season 97 runner ups Mapua University Cardinals, 76-67, for an even 1-1 win-loss record.
John Barba spearheaded the attack for the Pirates with 16 points, three rounds, and two assists, while Mclaude Guadana contributed 13 markers, two boards, three dimes, and three steals./PN
BOX SCORE:
LETRAN 101 — Reyson 31, Caralipio 14, Paraiso 13, Yu 12, Sangalang 9, Monje 9, Santos 6, Olivario 3, Go 2, Miclat 2, Ariar 0, Guarino 0.
JRU 97 — Amores 19, Miranda 18, Celis 14, Dela Rosa 14, Guiab 10, Dionisio 7, Arenal 7, Medina 5, Sy 3, Delos Santos 0, Abaoag 0.
Quarterscores: 19-27, 49-41, 74-71, 89-89, 101-97.
