Knights seize lead with win over Blazers

Letran Knights. NCAA PHOTO

There’s a new boss in the NCAA Season 97 men’s basketball tournament.

It should have been an old one, truth be told, but it took quite a while for defending champion Letran to get to the top.

The Knights finally took the tournament lead on Saturday after dislodging longtime leader St. Benilde with a 74-66 victory at San Juan Arena.

“It’s all about the experience of my players. They have championship experience and that really helps in down-the-stretch situations,” coach Bonnie Tan said.

Kurt Reyson hit the go-ahead triple, 65-63, with 53.4 seconds left, highlighting a 12-3 finishing kick by the Knights. Louie Sangalang completed a three-point play to seal the game, 68-63, with 20.7 ticks to go.

Lyceum triumphs

Letran notched its 11th win against three defeats after stacking an eighth straight win while St. Benilde slid to 9-3, with two of those losses coming at the hands of the Knights.

“I can’t be that disappointed, we fought and really gave them a good fight. We just let go in the end, we missed rebounds when we needed them. Breaks of the game, it is what it is,” Blazers coach Charles Tiu said.

In the other game, Lyceum squeaked past Perpetual Help, 86-82.

The Pirates improved to 9-5 in the standings.