Knights compound Blazers woes

While it’s getting crowded at the top, St. Benilde remained all alone at the bottom when it lost to defending champion Letran, 70-51, yesterday in one of four rain-drenched NCAA ballgames at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.

The Blazers, who won the crown in 2001, absorbed their fifth straight loss this season as the Knights notched their third straight win and joined Perpetual Help on top of the standings at 4-1.

Letran and St. Benilde engaged each other in a tight first quarter before the Knights, under coach Louie Alas, started to pour on the heat as the afternoon rains pounded the streets.

"We expected St. Benilde to play well in the first two quarters. So I told my players not to get frustrated because we can start pulling away in the third quarter," said Alas, who once handled the Talk N Text squad in the PBA.

Letran’s breakaway, however, came earlier than expected as the Knights dropped a 16-1 bomb that turned an 18-20 deficit into a 34-21 lead at halftime. They never looked back after that onslaught.

Jonathan Pinera, a 6-foot-5 center-forward, topscored for Letran with 14 points and drew needed support from Ronnjay Enrile, the 2003 MVP, Frederick Rodriguez and Aaron Aban.

St. Benilde, however, came out victorious in the juniors division following a thrilling 62-61 win over Letran. Both teams now sport a 3-2 record just behind the 5-0 card of pacesetting and defending champion San Beda.

In the other seniors match, San Sebastian struggled to beat Mapua, 74-73, and deny the Cardinals a share of the lead. Red Vicente buried a triple with five seconds left to lead the Stags to their third win in five games and deal their victims their second loss in five outings.