LETRAN turned what was supposed to be a dogfight into a lopsided rout and avoided playoff complications in the process.
The Knights left nothing to doubt and walloped Arellano, 91-77, on Thursday at Playtime Filoil Centre in San Juan to lock up the top-seed in Group B of the NCAA Season 102 seniors basketball tourney.
Jimboy Estrada paced the six Letran players to breach double figures with his 25 points built on five triples, to go with three rebounds and three assists to secure the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Coach Allen Ricardo, though, would rather focus on the fine play his side had rather than the incentive that his side just got after moving up to an 8-3 card thanks to this fourth straight win.
"Di namin tinitignan yung twice-to-beat. Ang tinitignan namin is how we play as a team," he said.
"Kung manalo man kami pero bad win naman, hindi buo ang kumpyansa namin going to the hardest battles. So ang sinasabi ko lang is dapat alam niyo sa isip at puso niyo na di niyo inaabandon yung sistema."
In full control were the Knights in the contest that even with the Chiefs staging an 8-0 rally in the fourth period to cut the deficit to 10, 78-68, they had an even better retort by responding with 13 unanswered points to restore order at 91-68 with 2:29 to play.
Justin Cargo also learned his lessons from the first meeting, this time collecting 15 points, four assists, and three boards as Letran redeemed itself from its 82-81 first round defeat last Sept. 30.
Chad Gammad shot 3-of-8 from deep for his 12 points, Kevin Santos nabbed 10 points, nine boards, and five dimes off the bench, and Aaron Buensalida and Denzil Sison-Walker got 10 apiece in the blowout where the Knights enjoyed a 23-point lead at halftime, 58-35.
T-Mc Ongotan continued to feel the effects of his right ankle injury as he was held to just nine points on 2-of-8 shooting alongside three rebounds.
Renzo Abiera topscored for the Chiefs with 20 points as they stumbled to their third consecutive defeat to go down to 5-6, precariously holding on to the second spot in the bracket.
The Scores:
LETRAN 91 - Estrada 25, Cargo 15, Gammad 12, Santos 10, Sison-Walker 10, Buensalida 10, Reyes 6, Valdeavilla 2, Diamante 1, Montecillo 0, Hugo 0, Muyuela 0, Villanueva 0.
ARELLANO 77 - Abiera 20, Vinoya 12, Geronimo 11, Ongotan 9, Valencia 6, Hernal 6, Buenaventura 5, Cabotaje 4, Camay 4, Flores 0, Borromeo 0, Anama 0, Langit 0, Manansala 0.
Quarters: 25-19, 58-35, 70-56, 91-77.
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