Knights seek old place at helm

Its six-game run snapped by a surging San Beda College squad, Letran seeks to regain its winning ways against lowly St. Benilde today even as Philippine Christian U tries to close in on the leaders against Perpetual Help in the 82nd NCAA basketball tournament at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The defending champion Knights are raring to bounce back from that 49-57 setback to the Red Lions last week as they take on the slumping Blazers, running second to last with a 1-6 (win-loss) slate, at 4 p.m.

Against San Beda, now at the top of the heap with a 7-1 mark, Letran shot a measly two-of-18 from the three-point range, a stark contrast to its previous average of nine three pointers.

Overall, Letran missed 39 of the 62 shots it took and no Knight finished in double figures. Hafer Mondragon and Bryan Faundo led the way with nine points apiece.

Boyet Bautista and Aaron Aban, hoping to lead the school to a fourth title in nine years before joining the pro draft this year, typified the Knights horrendous shooting as they finished with only eight points apiece, a far cry from their average of 16 and 12 points, respectively.

Compounding Letran’s woes was the sidelining of RJ Jazul, one of the team’s top shooters who is a doubtful starter with a finger injury.

The Blazers are expected to pounce on Jazul’s absence and Letran’s recent loss as they try to keep their flickering Final Four hopes alive.

Like the Knights, the Dolphins are slightly favored over the Altas in their 2 p.m. encounter.

The Dolphins blew hot and cold in the first round but managed to pull off come-from-behind wins to close out with a 5-2 card. They’ll be playing a Perpetual Help squad (2-5) also trying to remain in the hunt for a semis berth.