Knights clinch Final Four slot

DIMINUTIVE guard Mark Cruz stood tallest down the stretch as Letran outlasted St. Benilde, 95-89, in overtime last night to become the second team to clinch a Final Four berth in the 89th NCAA basketball tournament at Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan.

The 5-foot-5 Cruz knocked in five of his 19 points in the extra period on top of nine rebounds and nine assists as the Knights rallied from an early deficit, before showing resolve when it mattered to end the Blazers’ hopes of reaching the Final Four for the 12th straight season.

Rookie Rey Nambatac also sparkled with 17 points, while Raymond Almazan wound up with 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Knights, who jacked up their record to 12-3, joining defending champion San Beda in the Final Four.

Earlier, Arellano leaned on the  brilliance of John Pinto to  put a dent on Emilio Aguinaldo College’s Final Four drive with a  71-70 victory.

The stocky guard fired 18 points, including what turned out to be the marginal basket with 46 seconds remaining,  as the Chiefs notched their second straight victory to improve to 6-9.

The loss snapped a three-game winning run for the Generals, who stayed in fifth spot with an  8-8 card, behind idle San Sebastian (8-6).

The Chiefs went scoreless for a three-minute stretch after James Forrester’s triple lifted them to a 69-62 lead with 3:45 left.

The Scores:

First Game

ARELLANO 71—Pinto 18, Caperal 14, Forrester 8, Agovida 8, Hernandez 6, Jalalon 5, Salcedo 4, Bagga 2, Gumaru 0, Cadavis 0.

EAC 70 —Jamon 21, Noube 17, Arquero 11, Tayongtong 6, Morada 5, Paguia 4, Onwubere 4, King 2, Munsayac 0.

Quarters:17-13, 39-31, 59-47, 71-70

Second Game

LETRAN 95—Cruz 19, Nambatac 17, Racal 16, Almazan 16, Ruaya 8, Buenaflor 6, Tambeling 5, Castro 3, Belorio 3, Luib 2, Gabawan 0, Publico 0.

ST. BENILDE 89—Romero 19, Bartolo 17, Garcia 16, Jonson 12, Grey 10, Saavedra 6, Sinco 3, Nayve 2, Argamino 2, Ongteco 2, De Guzman 0, Deles 0.

Quarters: 22-21, 42-33, 62-58, 82-82 (reg), 95-89