MANILA—The Letran Knights suffocated the Mapua Cardinals to a surprising 76-65 victory Saturday in the opening of the NCAA Season 87 at the Araneta Coliseum.
A blistering 12-2 run to start the payoff period powered the Knights to their first win of the season, and against the Cardinals in nearly two years.
Letran pulled away with a double digit buffer with four minutes to play—reminiscent of its meeting with Mapua last season—only the Knights didn’t tremble this time around to lose the lead.
The Knights held the usually hot shooting Cardinals to just two field goals the entire fourth quarter, and it didn’t come until the three minute mark.
“The intensity of our defense was really the key,” said Letran head mentor Louie Alas. “We’re the underdogs here, but we knew we could pull off an upset.”
Explosive guard Kevin Alas, the coach’s younger son in the squad, spilled nine of his 22 points in the fourth quarter for the Knights including a steal and fastbreak layin that virtually sealed the victory.
Inside operator Jam Cortes also came up big in the pivotal binge as he dropped eight of his 10 markers in the fourth.
Alas also had five rebounds, six assists and four steals in tow.
Fil-Palestinian newcomer Yousef Taha, who was involved in a mild scuffle with Alas with less than a minute to play, broke the fourth quarter scoring slump for the Cardinals with an emphatic jam.
But it hardly did anything to invigorate them—spoiling the 28 point eruption of their crafty guard Allan Mangahas.
Taha, towering at six-foot-seven, did not have his usual stat-stuffer type of game but still finished with 10 points and 10 boards.
“Our game plan was to contain Taha and Mangahas. At least half of our game plan worked, Mangahas is just too versatile,” added Alas.
Before they ran out of gas, Mapua even looked determined to stay within striking distance as it readily turned a five-point deficit to a 50-48 lead, also on Mangahas’ blazing efforts.