Sean Guevarra came up with another clutch performance as Letran rallied to beat St. Benilde, 51-49, yesterday and remain in the lead in the 83rd NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.
Guevarra, who scored six points down the stretch to lift the Knights past the San Beda Red Lions, 70-69, last Wednesday, came away with a game-high 14 points he capped with two pressure-packed charities with 10.7 seconds left as the Muralla-based cagers streaked to their sixth win in seven games.
“I know he’s capable of playing in the level he’s in right now, I hope he can sustain it,” said Letran coach Louie Alas of his sophomore forward.
San Beda later re-joined Letran at the helm as it downed Mapua, 89-75, in the second game.
Pong Escobal fired 23 points while Nigerian Sam Ekwe had 19 points and 22 rebounds, his sixth straight double-double performance, as the Red Lions used a big fourth quarter run to turn back the Cardinals, who fell to their fifth setback against two wins.
Ranged against a lowly squad coming off a five-game skid, Letran took St. Benilde lightly and trailed majority of the way.
The Blazers actually built a 45-34 lead on an inside stab by Harvey Porras midway in the final period but three triples – two by Dino Daa and one by Guevarra – sparked the Knights’ blazing windup.
Gerald Layug scored on a driving lay-up to end a two-minute scoring drought by both teams as St. Benilde wrested a 49-48 edge with 57 seconds to go.
But Daa’s split knotted the count at 49-all and Guevarra scored a pair of charities for the marginal baskets.
“It was a character win for us,” said Alas, eyeing to steer the Muralla-based school to its first title since going all the way two years ago.
Porras led St. Benilde with 12 points but faltered when the Blazers needed him most.