Letran Knights’ King Caralipio. –NCAA PHOTO
Letran took solo second in the standings after dominating San Sebastian, 69-50, in the second round of the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament at San Juan Arena on Sunday.
“My guys responded positively to my game plan, which is to be composed no matter how physical they get, said coach Bonnie Tan. “I told them we should have learned our lesson after the first round; that [what] our opponents will give us, we have to go hard [at them].”
In nailing their sixth straight win the Knights (9-3 win-loss) overtook the Lyceum Pirates (8-3) in the standings.
Already up nine heading into the fourth, Letran used a 10-2 blitz to build a 59-42 edge with 4:44 remaining in the game.
The Stage, who fell to a 3-6 record, got to within 11 in the final minutes of the game, 59-48, but Fran Yu pulled up from the top of the key to deliver the dagger for the Knights
Yu scored 19 points for Letran, all in the second half. Brent Paraiso added 13 points on top of four rebounds and three assists for Letran.
With their defense taking nothing for granted, the Knights left the Stags struggling for points.
Yu typified the Letran defense with his scrappy hounding all game long.
“I don’t have any other advantages but my peskiness and speed. That’s what I’m [using on defense],” said Yu, who leads the tournament in steals with 2.4 a game. INQ.