Knights blast Altas, reach NC Final Four

Games Tuesday (MOA Arena)

12 noon – St. Benilde vs LPU (jrs)

2 p.m. – Mapua vs Arellano (srs)

4 p.m. – San Beda vs Letran (srs)

MANILA, Philippines - Letran came out with a sustained attack and ran a surprisingly listless Perpetual Help to the ground in an empathic 93-64 victory that guaranteed the Knights a Final Four return in the 91st NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

Mark Cruz and Kevin Racal fired 18 and 15 points, respectively, starring in an early Letran breakaway en route to the key victory that sealed their semifinals entry.

Perpetual Help, meanwhile, moved out of contention with a seventh loss against 11 wins.

“I was confident after our loss to San Beda that we’ll bounce back strong and the players didn’t disappoint,” said coach Aldin Ayo, whose team succumbed to the reigning five-peat champion, 73-77, last Tuesday.

With identical 13-5 win-loss cards, Letran and San Beda fight for playoffs top seeding on Tuesday at the MOA Arena.

Jose Rizal, Mapua and Arellano wound up tied for third to fifth spot but the Bombers gained third on the application of the quotient tiebreak system.

The Cardinals and the Chiefs fight it out for the fourth and last berth in the semis also on Tuesday.

Earlier, Jose Rizal routed San Sebastian, 91-69, while Mapua clobbered Emilio Aguinaldo, 88-63.

John Pontejos exploded with a game-best 23 points including five booming triples to lead the way for the Bombers while Nigerian Allwell Oraeme posted all-around numbers with 16 points, 15 rebounds, four blocks, three assists and three steals for the Cardinals.

“We did what we could and we hoped for the best,” said Jose Rizal coach Vergel Meneses.

Mapua shooter Exeqiel Biteng was thrown out of the game after he hit EAC’s Sydney Onwubere on the face in an ugly incident in  the second quarter. Biteng also incurred automatic one-game suspension for the infraction.

Like Jose Rizal, it took Mapua a big second half run to put the game out of reach.

“We made some defensive adjustments in the second half, that changed the complexion of the game,” said Mapua mentor Atoy Co.

The Stags finished the season at seventh with a 6-12 (win-loss) record while the Generals wound up 10th and dead last with a 2-16 slate.

The scores

Third Game

Letran 93 – Cruz 18, Racal 15, Luib 10, Publico 10, Balanza 8, Quinto 8, Sollano 6, Nambatac 6, Gedaria 5, Bernabe 3, Apreku 2, Balagasay 2, dela Pena 0

Perpetual Help 64 – Eze 24, Akhuetie 13, Thompson 7, Pido 6, Dizon 5, Dagangon 4, Oliveria 2, Coronel 2, Ylagan 1, Tamayo 0, Bantayan 0, Gallardo 0, Sadiwa 0

Quarterscores: 21-10; 50-26; 72-42; 93-64