Knights out to keep card clean vs Chiefs

Games today (The Arena, San Juan)

4 p.m. – Letran vs Arellano U

6 p.m. – Lyceum vs St. Benilde

MANILA, Philippines -  Letran goes out against Arellano U staking its unblemished slate today in the 89th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Knights have racked up five straight victories including a 61-53 win over the Lyceum Pirates, their Intramuros neighbors, last Saturday to seize the solo lead but the win was marred by the shooting incident involving guard Franz Dysam and her girlfriend Joanne Sordan near the Arena an hour later.

Dysam, who skipped last year stint after receiving death threats, survived the incident despite receiving six gunshot wounds while Sordan died due to a fatal gunshot wound to the chest.

Letran, out to win its first championship since going all the way eight seasons back, will tackle at 4 p.m. an Arellano U team out to improve from joint sixth spot with Lyceum on 2-3 (win-loss) slates to a share of No. 5 with Jose Rizal (3-3).

Chiefs coach Koy Banal stresses the need to play aggressive and keep focus if they want to hand the Knights their first loss.

“We need to be aggressive and focused for us to have a chance against Letran,” said Banal.

The Knights, though unscathed, have won all their five games via close shaves, winning it via an average winning margin of 4.4 points.

St. Benilde, in contrast, seeks to end its misery as it shoots for a first win against Lyceum in the other game at 6 p.m.

The Blazers have been called the heartbreak team of the league after losing their first five games by an average losing margin of 1.4 points a game capped by another painful collapse at the hands of the San Sebastian Stags, 78-80, last week.

Meanwhile, the league announced it condemned the Dysam incident.

In a statemen, it “condemns the attempt on the life of Colegio de San Juan de Letran Men’s Basketball player Franz Dysam and the killing of Ms. Joanne Sordan. Such violence has no place in our society. We are appealing to those who may have any information on the incident to come out and help the authorities to bring those responsible to justice.”

“The member schools of the NCAA have always held the welfare of their students with utmost importance. It is in this regard that we join Colegio de San Juan de Letran community in seeking for the immediate resolution of the case and praying for the speedy recovery of Franz. We also extend our condolences to the family of Ms. Joanne and pray for her repose,” it added.