Knights buck Chiefs, are back at helm

Games Thursday

4 p.m – San Sebastian vs Lyceum

6 p.m. – St. Benilde vs San Beda

MANILA, Philippines - Letran went on a press early and took away Arellano U’s rhythm as the Knights rolled to a 70-59 victory yesterday to regain a share of the lead with San Beda in the 89th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

The Knights held the Chiefs to just 14 first quarter points and nine in the second while pouring in 39 points to build a 16-point halftime  lead which they used as a springboard to record their 10th win against two losses and join the idle Red Lions at the helm.

Chris Elopre canned in two pressure packed charities in the closing seconds as Perpetual Help survived a fierce-fighting Jose Rizal U side, 64-61, to stay within striking distance of joint leaders San Beda and Letran.

It was the Altas’ 10th win against three losses, just half-a-game behind the Lions and the Knights heading to the homestretch of the double-round elims.

The Bombers, who dropped to 5-7, flubbed a number of shots down the stretch, including an open trey by Philip Paniamogan, setting up Elopre for the charities

Rookie Jan Jovit Tambeling, back after a one-game suspension, led the Knights with 15 points while Mark Cruz and Raymond Almazan scored 12 points apiece.  Another neophyte, Rey Nambatac, chipped in 10 points.

So dominating was Letran that it led by as many as 26 points, 51-25, late in the third period on a lay up by Kevin Racal.

“Our mentality going into this game and every game we play is to try to stop or limit our opponents from scoring and we succeeded on that today (yesterday),” said Letran coach Caloy Garcia.

The win also made up for Letran’s shocking 76-80 setback to giant-killer Lyceum last Sept. 5 in a game the Knights dominated only to falter in the end.

“Everyday is a learning experience for us and that loss taught us to play 40 minutes of basketball, not just 38 or 39 minutes,” said Garcia.

John Pinto, who hit the miraculous jumper that lifted Arellano U past Lyceum, 76-75, last week, came through with a game-high 17 points but failed to spark the Chiefs, who tumbled to 4-9 (win-loss).

Unforgiving on the defensive end, the Knights held the Chiefs to 13 in the third quarter as they built a 26-point spread before cruising to victory.