The Letran Knights continue their downward journey into the 2nd round of the NCAA Season 99 Mens Basketball with another loss against the Mapua Cardinals. Photo courtesy of Ram Christian Campos of The LANCE.
Letran delivers the same story in the second round of eliminations as they suffered a fourth quarter lapse against Mapua Cardinals, just like in their match against Perpetual Altas.
A furious fourth quarter onslaught by the Mapua Cardinals is enough to keep the Knights frustrated with a 66-69 loss in the eliminations of NCAA Season 99 Men’s Basketball earlier today at FilOil EcoOil Sports Centre.
Kurt Reyson managed to amass 17 points and five rebounds and was followed by rookie Deo Cuajao with 12 points, two assists and two steals, and a block as well as Kint Ariar having 11 points and 3 steals.
Already in the 1st quarter, there was aggressiveness among the players of both teams as a series of misses, steals, and ties with one another kept the scores neck and neck early on.
Reyson stops this steadily growing pace of the Mapua Cardinals as he scores left and right for a whopping 7 points, allowing the Knights to catch up, 17 -15.
The second window had the Letran Knights showcasing their skills in creating a good score gap as the Cardinals slipped up and the Knights seized that opportunity in executing their plays to take the lead with the score 38-31.
It was in the third frame where the heat of the battle ablaze as the Cardinals were constantly catching up to the score gaps left by the Knights.
With 1:21 remaining in the final canto, Paolo Hernandez drained a momentous triple followed by a jumper by Escamis to turn the game into their favor, 64-65.
A thrilling exchange of baskets were done by Cuajao and Soriano with the lead going back and forth with 25 ticks left, but a shot clock violation committed by the Knights gave Mapua their bounce back win.
The Knights are looking forward to winning their first game in the second round of the eliminations as they face EAC Generals on November 3, still at FilOil EcoOil Sports Centre.
The scores:
Quarter scores: 14-15, 38-31, 52-50, 66-69.
LETRAN (66)-- Reyson 17, Cuajao 12, Ariar 11, Jumao-as 10, Bataller 4, Bojorcelo 4, Monje 4, Santos 2, Javillonar 2, Garupil 0, Go 0.
MAPUA (69)-- Escamis 21, Soriano 14, Bonifacio 8, Hernandez 5, Cuenco 5, Recto 5, Rosillo 4, Dalisay 3, Bancale 2, Fornis 2, Asuncion 0, Igliane 0.