Letran exits Filoil tourney with rout of Phl Youth five

MANILA, Philippines – Letran bowed out of the Filoil Flying V Hanes Premier Cup with a 93-63 thrashing of a once more undermanned PHL Youth Under-18 National Team at the San Juan Arena on Friday.

The Knights leaned on the 3-point shooting of swingman Fidel Castro, who was 4-4 from beyond the arc to lead the Knights, which were without Mark Cruz. Castro finished with 16 points while Ford Ruaya added 14 of his own to the effort.

Rey Nambatac, the Knights’ other backcourt star, scored 11 points in addition to pulling down six rebounds.

The Nationals were able to keep in step with the Knights for majority of the first half before Letran held their more youthful foes to just nine points in the third, while scoring 21 of their own to take a 64-47 lead which they did not relinquish.

The win gave the Knights a 3-3 record, which is good enough for fourth place in Group B of the Men’s Division. The Nationals, who were without many of its mainstays returning to their mother clubs or out of the country for training, tumbled out of the tourney, winless in six starts.

"We just joined Filoil to get experience," said second year Letran coach Caloy Garcia. "We're a smaller team now, medyo lumaki lang kami sa guard position. We have to work with what we have. It’s just a matter of them developing their character and feeling their way with their teammates. They just have to challenge themselves."

The Knights also manned their way in the paint, as they swung a close 26-22 first half rebounding differential to a 63-37 advantage in the end game.

Paul Desiderio captained the Phl U-18 side with 15 points, while Mark Dyke had a double-double of 12 markers and 11 rebounds. Jolo Go also had 11 points in the losing effort.

The scores

Letran 93 – Castro 16, Ruaya 14, Nambatac 11, Calvo 9, Singontiko 7, Luib 6, Gabawan 6, Manlangit 6, Sumalacay 4, Apreku 3, Pantin 3, Quinto 2, Publico 2, Saldua 2, Dela Peña 2, Po 0.

RP U-18 63 – Desiderio 15, Dyke 12, Go 11, Tongco 9, Yu 5, Caracut 5, Manguera 5, Subido 1, Escoto 0, Mosqueda 0, Balanza 0, Rivero 0.

Quarters: 19-17, 43-38, 64-47, 93-63.