THERE was something spinning whenever Letran stepped to the free-throw line.
Whenever a Knight took a foul shot in front of the San Beda side of the Playtime Filoil Centre, two Red Corps members would twirl red-and-black optical-illusion props and flash them toward the shooter.
It made for an eye-catching backdrop to a game that ultimately turned on the smallest of margins.
READ: Torculas powers San Beda past Letran after gritty back-and-forth
San Beda outlasted Letran, 74-65, in overtime in a game that was decided by just nine points. But the Knights' biggest struggle came well before the extra period.
They had their worst free-throw shooting night of NCAA Season 102, going just 11-of-27 for 40.7 percent.
While the Knights aren't necessarily a good free throw shooting team, the difference in this game was nonetheless telling.
Letran shot 15-of-28 (53.6 percent) against Perpetual, 18-of-31 (58.1 percent) against San Sebastian, 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) against EAC and 17-of-28 (60.7 percent) against Arellano.
Against San Beda, their woes finally caught up with them.
The Knights missed 16 of 27 attempts, leaving 16 points at the line in a game that needed overtime to produce a winner.
Letran isn't playing the blame game, and the Red Corps' antics hardly explain every miss. Free throws remain a matter of execution, and the Knights simply couldn't convert at their usual rate when the game demanded it.
That proved costly against a San Beda side that stayed within striking distance through regulation before taking control in overtime.
The Red Lions finished the job in the extra five minutes, turning a close contest into a nine-point victory.
For Letran, the final margin was 74-65, but the more revealing number was 40.7 percent.
On a night when the Red Corps kept its props spinning, the Knights' free throws were the ones that kept going astray.
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