By: Jerod Orcullo
The Letran Knights snatch another win against the JRU Heavy Bombers for the Filoil EcoOil 17th ECJ Preseason Cup. Photo courtesy of Ram Christian Campos of The LANCE.
The Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights evaded the JRU Heavy Bombers, 68-66, in their sixth match of the Filoil EcoOil 17th ECJ Preseason Cup at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan this Thursday afternoon.
The Knights were without key players Jimboy Estrada and Paolo Javillonar, who is currently recovering from a knee injury, which forced Coach Allen Ricardo to switch up his lineups in the contest against JRU.
In their absence, Edsel Galoy stepped up on the offensive end as he contributed 20 points along with seven rebounds and two steals. He is the only Knight to score in double figures, as Jonathan Manalili finished with nine markers and seven boards, while Charles Dimaano had eight points and nine rebounds.
It was a seesaw affair as neither team gave up sizable advantages going on scoring runs and dry spells of their own, but Letran found themselves chasing a four-point margin, 44-48, headed into the final quarter as they turned the ball over seven times coming off the break.
Shawn Argente went on a personal five to nothing rally a minute and a half into the fourth, which gave the Heavy Bombers their largest lead of the contest at nine, 44-53, looking to run away with the match.
Galoy and Dimaano answered back with a combined 15 points to aid Letran's stagnant offensive display. However, JRU’s team captain, Jonathan Medina, carved out six of his own as it was still anybody's ballgame at the 3:20 mark.
Coach Allen's squad clinged onto a two-point advantage after his team went one of four from the line down the stretch. Mart Barrera had two clean looks from deep to win the game but neither hit the bottom of the net as Letran walked away with the victory.
Barrera led his team in scoring with 18, followed by Medina, who had a near double-double outing with 15 points and nine rebounds, and Argente who chipped in 10.
The Knights will seek to continue their winning ways in their remaining games of the tournament as they are set to collide with San Sebastian Golden Stags tomorrow at 1:00 P.M.
Quarter Scores: 17-17, 34-29, 34-29, 44-48, 68-66
LETRAN (68) – Galoy 20, Manalili 9, Dimaano 8, Baliling 6, Pradela 6, Go 5, Nunag 4, Jumao-As 3, Tangkay 3, Garupil 2, Montecillo 2, Alarcon 0, Bojorcelo 0, Brillantes 0
JRU (66) – Barrera 18, Medina 15, Argente 10, Ramos 7, De Leon 6, Sarmiento 4, Panapanaan 3, De Jesus 2, Pabico 1, Benitez 0, Bernardo 0, Ferrer 0, Garcia 0, Lozano 0, Samontanes 0