Brent Paraiso propels Letran Knights to seventh straight win. –NCAA PHOTO
Letran notched its seventh straight victory, holding off fellow Final Four contender Lyceum, 69-64, on Friday in the NCAA Season 98 men’s basketball tournament at Filoil EcoOil Arena in San Juan City.
In avenging a first-round defeat to the Pirates, the Knights clinched their 10th win in 13 outings. Letran now has one more win than idling St. Benilde, which continues to lead the field percentage-wise with a 9-2 card.
“We were aiming to be in the top two so the boys were really motivated to finish this round on a high note,” coach Bonnie Tan said.
In the other match, San Sebastian pounced on an erratic Jose Rizal University (JRU) for a 72-68 victory.
The Stags forced the Heavy Bombers to 22 turnovers, the last of which sealed JRU’s doom.
Itchie Altamirano gave San Sebastian a 69-68 late in the contest before JRU blew its last chance with an error with 7.4 seconds remaining.
“As always, [the Stags] played together and they focused on the game. The problem here was there were a lot of physicalities and I have rookies. [But] they did their very best to defend,” coach Egay Macaraya said.
Gutting it out
The Knights also needed to gut it out in the end to emerge victorious.
With the score tied at 62, Louie Sangalang drove to give Letran a two-point lead, 1:05 remaining.
The Pirates, who dropped to an 8-5 record, had a chance to tie the game in the clutch but Kurt Reyson stole the ball in an inbound play leading to a King Caralipio fast break layup to put the Knights up, 66-62, with 35 ticks left.
Brent Paraiso had the hot hands in the Letran win with 13 points from three triples while Sangalang finished with a double-double of 12 points and 18 rebounds.
The Stags notched their fourth win in 10 games and added to the woes of the Bombers, who at one point in the tournament were forced to a long layoff due to health protocols.
After winning five of its first seven games, JRU has now lost its last two.
Rhinwil Yambing finished with a game-high 17 points for San Sebastian.
Joshua Guiab registered a double-double on a losing effort with 16 markers and 18 rebounds for JRU.