WARNED against complacency by its coach at halftime, Letran came alive in the second half to dump Mapua, 77-70, last night and firm up its grip of top spot in the 89th NCAA basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.
Getting a season-high 23 points from Kevin Racal and an unlikely lift from seldom-used guard John Tambeling, the resurgent Knights notched their ninth win in 10 outings while inflicting an eighth straight loss on the Cardinals.
Later, San Beda fashioned out a hard-fought 81-63 victory over Lyceum to gain solo second with an 8-2 record.
Ola Adeogun threw his weight around and wound up with 19 points, while Baser Amer tallied 17 as the Lions survived the physical duel against the Pirates in a game where both teams combined for a total of 61 fouls.
The scores:
First Game
LETRAN 77—Racal 23, Almazan 16, Tambeling 13, Cruz 6, Ruaya 4, Nambatac 4, Buenaflor 4, Gabawan 3, Castro 2, Tambeling 2, Po 0, Luib 0, Olotu 0, Publico 0.
MAPUA 70—Ighalo 19, Brana 15, Eriobu 13, Biteng 7, Magsigay 6, Gabo 4, Isit 3, Layug 2, Cantos 1, Gonzalez 0, Estrella 0.
Quarters: 17-20, 37-40, 58-56, 77-70
Second Game:
SAN BEDA 81—Adeogun 19, Amer 17, Koga 13, Dela Cruz 8, Dela Rosa 8, Pascual 6, A. Semerad 5, Mendoza 2, Abarcar 1, Sara 1, D. Semerad 1, Abatayo 0, Ludovice 0.
LYCEUM 63—Zamora 20, Mbomiko 14, Ko 13, Mendoza 6, Azores 3, Lacastesantos 3, Baltazar 2, Ambohot 2, Evangelista 0, Taladua 0, Alanes 0, Garcia 0, Lesmoras 0.
Quarters: 19-6, 45-29, 62-51, 81-63