Bong Quinto. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net
After three straight wins, Letran seems to be finally getting its groove midway through the NCAA Season 93 men’s basketball tournament.
Bong Quinto believes that the Knights’ disheartening 81-74 loss to San Beda two weeks back was the turning point for them as they took the defeat to their fierce rivals to heart.
“This started from the game against San Beda. They woke us up so that we’ll get a chance to the Final Four,” he said.
From a 1-3 record, Letran has nabbed wins over Arellano, St. Benilde, and the latest, a 63-61 squeaker over Perpetual on Friday to rise to solo third place.
Through that stretch, the Knights have also unearthed valuable contributors from the bench like Jeremiah Taladua, King Caralipio, and Christian Balagasay.
Quinto himself has found a way to be more effective as he let senior Rey Nambatac took much of the mantle.
“I saw that the defense of our opponents is really focusing on Rey, so I thought that I needed to help him and I do that on defense,” he said.
The 20-year-old, though, isn’t letting up on his offense and on Friday, Quinto tallied 14 points, nine rebounds, and three assists, including the game-winning drive with 12.6 seconds left to push his side up by two.
But Quinto still shared the credit to Nambatac, who trusted him the rock in the waning seconds of the game.
“Maybe it just so happened that I got the ball. It wouldn’t have happened if Rey didn’t trust me enough, so I didn’t want to fail him,” he said.
Quinto is optimistic that just like this game, chips will continue to fall on Letran’s way going forward.
“Maybe, the Lord really wanted those games for us,” he said.
The Knights will next brace for contenders San Sebastian and Lyceum for their upcoming games next week.