PCU adds to Letran woes, cops No. 2 seed

Philippine Christian University went to Gabby Espinas down the stretch as the Dolphins subdued the Letran Knights, 67-62, yesterday to clinch the No. 2 seeding in the Final Four and the twice-to-beat edge in the 82nd NCAA basketball tournament at the Big Dome.

Espinas, the 2004 rookie MVP, churned out 19 points, including six in the final 2.32 minutes of play to send the Dolphins, last year’s runners-up, into the threshold of making the finals for the third straight season.

But PCU will have to do it against the defending champion Knights in the Final Four, needing just a win to advance to the best-of-three championship.

The other semifinal pairing pits San Beda, which topped the elims with a 13-1 record, against No. 4 Mapua (7-7).

"I keep challenging him during the game to show them he’s really ripe for the pros," said PCU coach Joel Dualan of the pro-bound Espinas in Filipino.

Led by Espinas, the Dolphins barreled their way through the Knights’ interior defense to build a big 52-32 lead late in the third quarter.

But the Knights battled back with a pair of furious runs that cut the deficit to just three points, 59-62, with over a minute left in the contest.

But it turned out to be Letran’s last stand as Espinas, picked fifth overall by San Miguel in the last month’s PBA rookie draft, came through with a basket and two foul shots that sealed it.

Jason Castro and Ian Garrido tosssed in 16 and 13 points, respectively, for PCU.

It was the Knights’ fourth straight defeat.

Earlier, Perpetual Help captured its second straight cheer dance competition title by besting last year’s runner-up Letran and 2004 winner Mapua.

The UPHD Pep Squad garnered a total of 92.76 points to pocket the top purse worth P70,000 and the bragging rights as the league’s top cheer dance school.

Letran and Mapua finished second and third with 87.6 and 86.76 points to take home P40,000 and P30,000, respectively.