Knights ride past Altas, share lead

Letran went to rookie Fiel Daa when its veterans sputtered in the early going as the defending champions pulled off a 66-54 victory over the Perpetual Help Altas yesterday to regain a share of the lead with San Beda in the 82nd NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Daa came through with a season-high 14 points, including eight in the third quarter when the Knights mounted their comeback from a 27-33 deficit at the half to seize control at 47-42 at the end of the period.

Boyet Bautista and Aaron Aban, two of the top prospects in the coming PBA Rookie Draft, struggled early but settled down in the fourth quarter where they combined for 12 points to seal the Muralla-based cagers’ eighth victory in nine games for a share of the lead with the Red Lions.

However, observers Bautista and Aban held back on their game early on to conserve energy for the PBA rookie training camp late yesterday at the Philsports Arena.

Bautista, in fact, made only six of the 17 shots he took although he still wound up with 14 points. Aban, on the other hand, went three-of-11 from the field and finished with 10 points.

But those hardly mattered for Letran coach Louie Alas.

Another rookie, Virgilio Manuel, led the Altas with 11 points but Perpetual Help’s top guns failed to deliver the goods expected of them.

Khiel Misa, the league’s current leading scorer with an average of 18.2 points, struggled with just seven points. Worse, Vladimir Joe sat out the game due to an MCL (medial collateral ligament) injury.

In the other seniors game, last year’s runner-up Philippine Christian U trounced St. Benilde, 79-70, to remain at third place with a 7-2 (win-loss) slate.

It was the Blazers’ eighth setback against a win.