FROM probably the biggest letdowns early on in the season, Letran has now transformed itself as the hottest team in the NCAA Season 101.
The Knights have now won four in a row in the tournament, showing great composure down the stretch in taking down the defending champions Mapua Cardinals, 85-82, in overtime on Tuesday at the Playtime Filoil Center in San Juan.
Titing Manalili was the engine that ran the Knights once more while Aaron Buensalida, Kevin Santos and Jimboy Estrada proved to be the heavy hitters as Letran recovered from squandering a 17 point lead in the first half to outsteady the Cardinals in another extended finish for them.
The highly-touted rookie out of Cebu either scored or assisted in 15 of the Knights' final 19 points - stretching from the four minute mark in regulation up until the overtime period.
"Nagkakaron na ng maturity somehow. It's a bit shaky parin lalo na nung nangyari sa second and third quarters. We need to study the film what went wrong. Fortunately di sila gumive up. Yun ang maganda sa character ng mga bata," Letran head coach Allen Ricardo said after they got outscored 50-28 in the middle quarters.
Battle tested Knights show up
The Knights looked poised for a blowout win after going ahead 29-12 early in the second quarter but that's when the champions woke up from their slumber and started chipping away from the lead.
Behind Cyrus Nitura, Cyril Gonzales and Clint Escamis, the Cardinals went on a big run in the second and third quarters as not only did they erase the big Letran lead, they posted a double-digit spread of their own, going up 63-53 in the early goings of the fourth.
But these Knights have been tested so much this season to give up as they slowly chipped away the lead - resulting to a frantic finish.
A Cy Cuenco three gave Mapua a 78-76 lead with 44 seconds left in regulation, but Manalili attacked him on the other end, got Cuenco's fifth and final foul and drained two clutch free throws to send the game into overtime.
Manalili also hit Letran's go-ahead basket in the extension, scoring on lay-up to push the Knights up by two 83-81.
Clint Escamis had the chance to push the Cardinals back in the lead when he was fouled from the three-point line with 29 seconds left, but unfortunately, the former MVP missed two of his three attempts forcing the Cardinals to foul on the other end.
Jimboy Estrada canned the insurance free throws on the next possession before JC Recto missed a three-pointer to give the Knights the win.
Manalili continued his impressive run quarterbacking for the Knights as he finished with 14 points and 10 assists in Letran's fourth straight win. In that run, Manalili is averaging 12 assists per game.
Estrada led the way for the Knights with 20 points while Letran's bigs also went to work with Santos chipping in 17 points, nine rebounds and three blocks and Buensalida posting a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds to go along two blocks.
Cyrus Nitura led the way for the Cardinals with 19 points and 15 rebounds, Cyril Gonzales added 17 while Escamis finished with 14 points and five assists for the now 3-3 Cardinals.
The cross-bracket games have been unkind to these Cardinals as they've now dropped two in a row against teams from Group B after losing to San Beda.
The scores:
LETRAN 85 – Estrada 20, Santos 17, Buensalida 16, Manalili 14, Cuajao 9, Omega 4, Gammad 3, Rosilio 2, Yusi 0, Gazzingan 0
MAPÚA 82 – Nitura 19, Gonzales 17, Escamis 14, Cuenco 10, Sapasap 9, Delos Reyes 7, Recto 4, Concepcion 2, Igliane 0, Lazarte 0, Gulapa 0
Quarters: 25-12, 41-38, 53-62, 78-78 (reg.), 85-82 (OT)
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