SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – The Letran Knights continued their winning ways by the skin of their teeth in the NCAA Season 95 after eking out an 82-80 overtime thriller against the Perpetual Help Altas on Friday, July 19.
Graduating guard Bonbon Batiller continued his hot streak as well after leading the Knights’ charge with 22 points on an 8-of-14 shooting. However, it was big man Ato Ular who worked hardest in the clutch and finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds in Letran’s third straight win.
Coach Bonnie Tan could only tip his hat to multi-titled tactitian Frankie Lim as the Altas sank to their second straight loss.
“Our opponents were well-coached and they really came prepared for the game,” he said in the post-game presser.
“For us, our goal is to let them win in turnovers, meaning we lessen our own, which we have achieved. A win is a win. Breaks of the game, two points. We’ll take it because we’re still learning how to win games and close out games.”
The chaos started for both squads when Altas lead guard Edgar Charcos sank a fallaway three to tie the game at 70 with 4.1 seconds left in regulation. Knights captain Jerrick Balanza had a good look to seal the deal off the timeout, but his stepback three clanked off as time expired.
The two teams then took turns with the lead in a thrilling overtime period. Jielo Razon and Ular answered each other with back-to-back buckets in the last 1:36 of the extra period before Letran came out on top with a Jeo Ambohot go-ahead putback, 81-80.
Perpetual had two chances to save the game but Charcos and Razon both muffed their shots in the last 12 ticks of OT.
Charcos came 2 rebounds shy of a triple-double as he finished with 15 points, 10 assists and 8 boards in a staggering 43 minutes on the court. Five other Altas breached double-digit scoring in the losing effort, led by Rey Peralta’s 14 markers.
Bombers blast Chiefs
The triple-header day ended the same way it started as the JRU Heavy Bombers scored an 80-77 breakthrough win against the winless Arellano Chiefs.
Agem Miranda came through in the clutch for the 1-2 Bombers, dropping a collegiate-high 26 points – none of them bigger, however, than his go-ahead three in the last 1.7 seconds of regulation to break a 77-all tie. The 19-year-old swingman was also responsible for the game-tying putback 27 ticks earlier off a John Amores miss.
With Arellano also hungry for their first win of the season, the Chief blitzed through the Bombers with a 22-8 1st quarter. However, Marq Dionisio led JRU’s regroup in the 2nd period as they inched within 3, 34-37, at halftime.
Still, the Chiefs led by 7, 67-60, after back-to-back buckets by Rence Alcoriza at the seven-minute mark of the 4th From there, however, Thomas Vasquez capped off an 11-6 run from the start of the period with a tying three, 67-all.
Both squads would then trade leads until Dariel Bayla sank a go-ahead layup, 76-75, off the Kent Salado feed. That would turn out to be Arellano’s last lead as Miranda took over in the final minute of the contest to eventually steal the win.
Alcoriza led Arellano in their third straight loss with 21 points and 4 rebounds while Salado chipped in 16 markers, 6 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, albeit with 7 turnovers.
For the middle game of the day, the Lyceum Pirates got back in the win column after a 79-71 win over the Mapua Cardinals.
JC Marcelino and Ralph Tansingco steered Lyceum to the bounce-back victory with 14 points apiece. Three other Pirates scored in double-digits, highlighted with Jayson David’s 10-marker, 12-rebound double-double with 5 assists to boot.
Mapua was well within striking distance until the 6:34 mark of the 4th, after former NU Bullpup Cyril Gonzales capped off a 7-0 run to inch the Cardinals within 4, 65-69. However, that was as near as they could get as Lyceum responded with a game-sealing 10-3 attack, ending with a JC Marcelino layup, 79-68, with 1:58 left.
Paolo Hernandez led Mapua in the loss with 19 points while Gonzales chipped in 16 markers.
The Scores
First Game
Letran 82 – Batiller 22, Ular 19, Muyang 10, Ambohot 9, Balanza 9, Caralipio 5, Sangalang 5, Yu 2, Olivario 1, Mina 0, Reyson 0, Pambid 0, Javillonar 0.
Perpetual 80 – Charcos 15, Peralta 14, Sese 13, Adamos 12, Aurin 11, Razon 11, Sevilla 2, Egan 2, Lanoy 0, Tamayo 0, Giussani 0, Barasi 0, Cuevas 0.
Quarters: 11-17, 33-30, 56-48, 70-70 (reg.), 82-80 (OT).
Second Game
Lyceum 79 – Marcelino JC 14, Tansingco 14, Caduyac 12, Santos 11, David 10, Marcelino JV 5, Navarro 5, Valdez 4, Ibanez 2, Yong 2, Pretta 0.
Mapua 71 – Hernandez 19, Gonzales 16, Bunag 7, Bonifacio 6, Serrano 6, Lugo 5, Nocum 5, Victoria 3, Aguirre 3, Gamboa 1, Salenga 0, Garcia 0, Nieles 0, Jabel 0.
Quarters: 29-21, 47-40, 61-57, 79-71.
Third Game
JRU 80 – Miranda 26, Steinl 14, Amores 11, Dionisio 10, Delos Santos 7, Dela Rosa 3, Jungco 3, Aguilar 3, Vasquez 3, Arenal 0, Abaoag 0.
Arellano 77 – Alcoriza 21, Salado 16, Bayla 15, Arana 12, Sablan 8, Concepcion 5, Santos 0, Gayosa 0, Oliva 0, Talampas 0, Espiritu 0, De Guzman 0, Segura 0, Sacramento 0.
Quarters: 8-22, 34-37, 56-61, 80-77.
– Rappler.com
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