By: Jerod Orcullo
The Letran faces another scolding defeat as Perpetual seized victory in Pinoyliga. Photo courtesy of William Tulagan of The LANCE.
Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights absorbed a nail-biting defeat versus the Perpetual Altas, 72-73, in the third iteration of the Pinoyliga Collegiate Cup at Enderun Colleges this morning.
Joseph Nunag spearheaded Letran with a double-double outing of 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five steals, while Paolo Javillonar dropped a team-high 15 markers followed by a debuting Peter Rosillo who finished with 12 points and six assists.
With 4.37 seconds left in regulation and a two-point lead in favor of Perpetual, Deo Cuajao attempted to steal the win with a three but his shot clanked off the front of the rim, luckily for Letran, Nunag was at the right place at the right time to tip in the miss at the horn and force overtime.
Coach Allen Ricardo’s squad struggled to maintain stable offensive production throughout the first three quarters of the contest as the momentum swung back and forth with the Altas building up a lead only for the Knights to claw back and trim it at the latter stages of each frame.
Perpetual established their biggest lead, 49-58, after Ray Allen Maglupay drained his first of two baskets from beyond the arc in the fourth.
The Knights found themselves still down by eight at the 2:45 mark but Javillonar’s rim grazing slam sparked a six to nothing run as they inched closer to tying the game.
In the overtime period, the Altas banked on Mark Gojo Cruz’s production as he scored five points with two coming from the stripe that gave his squad the advantage and the eventual win as Nat Montecillo's last ditch trey rimmed out.
Gojo Cruz churned out 12 points with three dimes and two boards backed by Maglupay, Josiah Alcantara, and Gelo Gelsano who all had 11 apiece.
Letran sits at fourth place in Bracket B of the tournament with a 3-2 record after this game, future games are announced and streamed live at the Pinoyliga Cup facebook page.