LETRAN sent the league’s hottest team crashing back to earth while boosting its own Final Four bid yesterday in the 92nd NCAA basketball tournament.
Rey Nambatac and John Calvo fired 16 points each as the Knights snapped the San Sebastian Stags’ four-game winning run with a 73-61 triumph on a day when the Jose Rizal U also got its campaign back on track at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
Center Abdel Poutouochi dished out a strong performance as the Bombers turned back the St. Benilde Blazers, 71-63, to move within half a game off Mapua in the race for the last Final Four berth.
“We’re just trying to get as many wins as we can and see what happens,” said JRU coach Vergel Meneses, whose team pulled away in the third quarter.
Emilio Aguinaldo College nailed its second straight victory at the expense of Lyceum, 73-66, to also keep its Final Four hopes afloat.
Francis Munsayac poured 11 of his 13 points in the final period as the Generals caught up with their victims at seventh spot with a 5-9 record.
Sustaining his stellar play in the second round of the tournament, the 6-foot-5 Poutouchi wound up with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Paolo Pontejos broke out of his slump to shoot 14 points and Tey Teodoro contributed 11 for the Bombers(8-6).
The Knights rose to 7-7 for sixth spot, after getting past a San Sebastian team that had won over San Beda, Perpetual Help, Mapua and Lyceum.
The Stags are virtually out of the playoffs, after dropping to 5-10.