UNBEATEN Letran sets out to keep its perfect record today against College of St. Benilde in the 89th NCAA basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Arena.
On a roll with three victories, the Knights take on the hard-luck Blazers at 6 p.m., right after the match pitting the Lyceum Pirates and the University of Perpetual Help Altas which are both seeking a share of second place with the idle San Beda Red Lions.
The Pirates stunned the defending champion Lions two weeks back and then drubbed the Mapua Cardinals to tie the Altas at 2-1. The Altas, meanwhile, are coming off a stinging 77-78 defeat to the San Sebastian Stags.
“I told the team to just play their game and not look at the standings,” said Letran coach Caloy Garcia, whose Knights barely survived the Jose Rizal U Heavy Bombers, 69-66, in overtime.
“We haven’t proven anything yet, so we want to take every game seriously,” added Garcia.
Opposite the Blazers, the Knights will have to watch out for St. Benilde’s hunger to register its first victory of the season following three successive close shaves.
The Blazers (0-3) lost by one point each to the Lions and the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals and by two in overtime to the Heavy Bombers on Thursday.
Coach Gabby Velasco has a full deck of versatile players like Pons Saavedra, Paolo Taha, Mark Romero but the Blazers just couldn’t keep the fire from burning until the end.