Back to zero for last 4 NCAA teams standing

Perpetual Help Altas’ Patrick Sleat during a game against JRU Heavy Bombers in the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball tournament. –NCAA PHOTO

Throw away whatever advantages any of the four remaining teams had to get to this point. No more ranking protections. The NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball tournament will crown a new champion this season and all four teams still eligible for the trophy will start from zero.

“We’re blessed to be here,” Letran coach Allen Ricardo said after the Knights outlasted the Arellano Chiefs, 77-69, in their quarterfinal showdown.

Jimboy Santos and Kevin Estrada keyed that victory, with Titing Manalili holding the squad together with his 12 assists that more than made up for his three points.

Manalili will need to find his touch, though, as the Knights are headed straight for a semifinal showdown against Group A juggernaut Perpetual Help—a team Ricardo has already studied closely.

“They have Patrick Sleat and Mark Gojo Cruz—the heart and soul of that team,” he said. “We need to limit those two to have a good chance of winning the series.”

Letran forged a 63-56 victory against Perpetual during their lone meeting in the elimination round. But that win carries little worth into the best-of-three affair.

Meanwhile, St. Benilde will enter the semifinals with the distinction no other Final Four participant can boast: The Blazers were the ones who ensured that a new champion would be crowned this season after eliminating defending titlist Mapua.

The Blazers watched their 18-point cushion melt away against the Cardinals. But they held on for a 74-72 victory that earned them a semifinal berth.

“That looked like a game we almost let slip away,” coach Charles Tiu admitted. “Everybody counted us out. Nobody believed in our team, so I told the boys—we have something to prove.”