Sloppy Letran escapes Lyceum in OT

MANILA, Philippines–In a slapdash effort, Letran sneaked past guest squad Lyceum, 92-89, in overtime Friday in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

Letran recovered from another fourth quarter meltdown in time to put away Lyceum with a herculean effort  by main man Kevin Alas.

Alas shone with 24 big points that went along with five rebounds, 12 assists and five steals, but it was his timely triple with 25.9 ticks remaining in OT that salvaged the Knights.

“Kevin [Alas] had no energy left in him, only will,“ said Letran’s longtime mentor, Louie Alas.

The Knights were clutching a precarious seven-point advantage with under two minutes left in overtime when the resilient newcomers unleashed a 6-0 run to edge within 87-86, before Alas’ crucial basket.

But Letran continued its erratic ways on a costly turnover off the inbound, which paved the way for Lyceum to quickly rack up three more points from the stripe with 3.7 seconds left.

A last-second layin by Jay Espiritu, who was responsible for sending the game past regulation, sealed the Knights’ fifth victory with two setbacks.

“It was an ugly win but we need it,” said Alas of the performance of his squad, which is coming off a lamentable loss to rival San Beda last Monday.

Espiritu, who added nine points, knocked down a cold-blooded trey to knot the match at 77-all with 36 ticks in the fourth quarter after the Knights spoiled a 16-point advantage.

Letran had a chance to win, but missed on all four shots from the line with under a minute in regulation.

Burly forward Jam Cortes, despite cramping up early in the second half, pounded on the paint with 14 points and 11 boards.

The little guys Kevin Racal and Mark Cruz who gave Letran its biggest lead, meanwhile, combined for 20 points.

Letran survived a record-setting 29-point explosion by Lyceum’s Chris Cayabyab who smashed his previous high 20, before fouling out.

It was Allan Santos, though, who carried the Pirates back in the game with five of the first six points in overtime before Floricel Guevarra’s trey put them within one.

Guevarra spearheaded the comeback of the Pirates by scattering 13 points in the fourth quarter and OT, en route to 17 points.

Although the Lyceum dropped its fourth loss in eight games, it remains in the middle of the pact at the tail end of the eliminations.