Knights to widen gap vs pursuers

MANILA, Philippines - Third-running Letran seeks to move closer to the leaders and farther from its closest pursuers today when the Knights take on the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals in the 87th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

“We need a win to put some distance between us and the next teams in the standings,” said Knights coach Louie Alas of their mission in the 2 p.m. game.

The Knights stand at solo third behind unbeaten joint leaders San Beda and San Sebastian (8-0) with a 5-2 card, half a game ahead of No. 4 Lyceum (4-4) and two adrift of No. 5 St. Benilde and EAC (3-4). 

Letran is coming off a tight 92-89 overtime squeaker over Lyceum last Aug. 5, a game that saw the Knights squander a seven-point bubble in the extension before escaping with the win.

“We can’t play against EAC like that in the endgame, they will eat us alive,” said Alas, who also vowed to “study my substitution patterns in the endgame to better ensure fresh legs” especially down the line.

The EAC Generals (3-4) look to make a followup to their 71-58 disposal of Perpetual Help – a victory that already surpassed their two-win season in 2010.

“That win will serve as a good motivating factor for the team going to the game against Letran,” said EAC coach Gerry Esplana, who also believes that the Generals are now “unburdened with the pressure of improving on their 2010 record” and they could now “just come out and play.”

College of St. Benilde Blazers (3-4) and the Arellano University Chiefs (1-5) lock horns at 4 p.m.