LETRAN just reminded everyone that the road to the championship still runs through it.
The Knights outsteadied St. Benilde down the stretch and pulled off the thrilling 74-66 victory on Saturday to seize the top spot of the NCAA Season 98 seniors basketball tournament at Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
Letran vs St. Benilde recap
Kurt Reyson canned the go-ahead trey with 53.4 seconds to go, before Louie Sangalang secured a steal on Robi Nayve and converted a three-point play to give the defending champions a 68-63 advantage in the final 28.7.
Brent Paraiso put the exclamation point in the win with a block on Nayve's trey, before Fran Yu and Reyson sealed the deal on the charity stripe as they scored 12 unanswered points to seize the 72-63 lead with 17.2 seconds on the clock.
Sangalang paced Letran with 21 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, an assist, and a steal, while Reyson collected 14 points, five boards, two assists, and two steals as their side came through after a see-saw battle in the fourth quarter.
The Knights also got solid contributions from their veterans with Paraiso chipping in seven points, four boards, and two dimes, and Yu dishing out 10 assists to go with his five points and nine rebounds.
Letran's gutsy victory made it eight straight victories to give the Muralla side the pole position with an 11-3 record.
St. Benilde, meanwhile, dropped to a 9-3 slate.
Miggy Corteza scored six of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, to go with his three rebounds in the Blazers defeat.
MVP frontrunner Will Gozum got a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds in the potential Finals preview between the league's top teams.
The Scores:
LETRAN 74 -- Sangalang 21, Reyson 16, Go 9, Javillonar 8, Paraiso 7, Yu 5, Caralipio 4, Olivario 2, Monje 2, Tolentino 2, Santos 0.
CSB 66 -- Corteza 14, Gozum 12, Pasturan 11, Cullar 10, Nayve 8, Oczon 4, Lepalam 3, Sangco 2, Carlos 2, Marcos 0, Flores 0, Sumabat 0, Dimayuga 0.
Quarters: 20-19, 41-36, 50-51, 74-66.
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