The Letran Knights battled it out with the Ateneo Blue Eagles as they face defeat towards the final quarter. Photo courtesy of Eduardo Nollora Jr of The LANCE.
Ateneo’s fourth quarter rally was unbearable for Letran as they suffered a 85-90 meltdown in the SBP Invitational Games held yesterday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The invitational games was crafted in preparation for the Fiba World Cup which will happen in the Philippines on August, the simulation games include matchups of collegiate teams from both the UAAP and the NCAA.
Kurt Reyson held on to his lofty billings as one of the Knights’ pillars as he tallied game-high 25 markers, five boards and four assists.
Kobe Monje also unloaded 20 points, eight rebounds, an assist and a steal while Kevin Santos added 15 with seven caroms. With mazes of fouls pooling the way of the Knights in the endgame, the Eagles seized the opportunity to turn the game to their favor.
Kevin Santos played hero for the Knights in the second quarter as he drained four points to pull the Knights to a five-point advantage, 25-30.
The NCAA champions held the driver’s seat most of the time, leading by nine points but Ateneo trailed closely.
From being down by nine, the Katipunan-based squad relied on Kyle Gambler’s heroics to eke out a 68-all deadlock.
Both teams continued to show their championship prowess and experience in the final canto as they battled wire-to-wire, with Letran holding on to a single-point advantage, 82-81.
Mason Amos supplied 16 points to go along with four boards and two assists for the UAAP champions, backed by Jared Brown's 16 and Kobe Demisana and Lebron Nieto who contributed 10 separately.
The scores:
Quarter scores: 19-15, 46-41, 68-66, 90-85
LETRAN (85)— Reyson 25, Monje 20, Santos 15, Ariar 7, Galvez 6, Jumao-as 5, Go 3, Tolentino 2, Nunag 2, Bojorcelo 0, Morales 0.
ATENEO (90)— Amos 16, Brown 15, Bongo 11, Demisana 10, Nieto 10, Obasa 9, De Luna 6, Gambler 6, Garcia 5, Asoro 2, Ong 0, Quitevis 0.