DEFEATED. Benilde outlasted Letran in the FilOil Flying V tournament, handing the Knights their third loss in the Preseason Cup. (Photo by Angela Davocol/The LANCE)
Colegio de San Juan de Letran fell short against the College of St. Benilde in overtime, 89-88, in the 12th FilOil Flying V Preseason Cup at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan.
The race for two remaining quarterfinals spots in Group B just got interesting. It came at the expense of a loss for the Letran Knights, who dropped at the fourth spot.
With 12.8 seconds left in the fourth frame, Bong Quinto capped a trey and tied the score at 75 to force an extra period. However, the Blazers were able to gain advantage in overtime after a Quinto foul that resulted to Edward Dixon’s game winning free throws.
“Meron kaming mga lapses pa rin eh so ‘yun ‘yung mga incorrect. ‘Yung mga unnecessary ‘yun ‘yung kailangan na lang paghandaan para at least prepared kami [sa next game],” said coach Jeff Napa.
Adding to the match’s subplot was Letran Knights big man Christian Fajarito, who donned the green and white before transferring to Intramuros. Fajarito played poorly in his first outing against his former team, scoring only three points in total.
When Napa was asked about Fajarito’s performance in the match, “So ‘yung presence niya ngayon hindi masyadong naramdaman. [What] matters lang is kung paano ‘yung preparation sa next game para maging effective na siya,” he said.
Garnering three losses in the preseason, Napa expressed: “Hindi naman namin iniisip ‘yun eh. Ang iniisip pa rin namin kung how we perform, how we compete. So focus pa rin namin is the upcoming [National Collegiate Athletic Association] NCAA Season.”
Dixon and Justin Gutang were able to pick up monster games from Letran and showed the way for Benilde with 21 and 13 points, respectively for the Blazers.
On the other hand, John Calvo paced the Knights with 17 points while Bong Quinto added 16 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists.
The Knights took their third loss and dropped to 4-3. Meanwhile, the win puts the Blazers to the quarterfinal picture with a 6-1 win-loss record.
The Intramuros-based dribblers will wrap up their FilOil elimination campaign and will look to seal its place in Group B when they face the Arellano University, on Tuesday, June 12, 2:15 p.m., at the same venue.
Meanwhile, in the Hanes 1-on-1 King of the Hardcourt, Jeremiah Taladua advanced to the championship round after outmuscling Ateneo’s Jason Credo, 11-10.
Taladua will face either Mapua’s Daniel Aguirre or St. Benilde’s Prince Carlos in the finals.
The scores:
CSB (89) – Dixon 21, Gutang 13, Leutcheu 11, Domingo 10, Naboa 8, Pasturan 8, Carlos 7, Belgica 4, Young 3, Nayve 2, Barnes 2, Velasco 0, Pagulayan 0
CSJL (88) – Calvo 17, Quinto 16, Balanza 15, Muyang 14, Batiller 8, Ambohot 7, Yu 4, Fajarito 3, Agbong 2, Balagasay 2, Celis 0, Taladua 0, Mandreza 0