Knights melt in Benilde’s blazing heat

Letran took St. Benilde lightly and was made to pay the price as the Blazers, already out of the Final Four race, carved out a 90-72 upset yesterday in the 79th NCAA basketball tournament at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

After losing eight of their first 11 games, the Blazers were hardly given a chance against the Knights, who came into the game trying to preserve the solo lead heading into the closing stages of the elimination round.

But the Blazers, the 2000 champions, were in no mood to fool around. They trailed early, 11-25, then suddenly caught fire, stunning their opponents with a fiery assault that gave them a commanding 57-39 lead midway in the third quarter.

The Blazers enjoyed their last 18-point lead of the game at 64-46 before the Knights, probably out of humiliation, launched a strong counter-attack and managed to narrow the gap to 60-66 early in the final quarter. However, that proved to be their last stand as the Blazers pulled away for good.

"Even though we’re already out, we still represent our school and we must give a good account of ourselves. We played with a lot of pride," said St. Benilde coach Tonichi Yturri.

The loss pulled the Knights into a tie for the lead with San Sebastian and Jose Rizal at 7-4, and will be hard-pressed to sweep their last three games to assure themselves of a top two finish plus a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.

Perpetual Help completed the day of upsets when it turned back San Beda, 68-63, in the second game. The Altas improved to 4-7 while the Red Lions lost their third straight game for a 6-5 slate.

The Letran dugout remained closed almost 30 minutes gone after the game.

"Galit na galit si coach (Louie Alas) sa pagkatalo. Sayang daw kasi," said one of the team officials, considering that the Knights had come from a 76-65 victory over erstwhile co-leader San Beda last Monday.