By: Kim Yoshi Espiritu
Photo from: NCAA
The Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights found no way out of their second round slump after suffering another crucial defeat in the hands of the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde Blazers, 78-83, Friday at the FilOil EcoOil Center Arena.
Captain Pao Javillonar answered the call of head coach Allen Ricardo, who sought a Knight to step up. The 6-foot-6 pivotman had an impressive performance, racking up 31 markers built on eight three-point field goals. However, this was not enough to steer his squad towards the fourth spot.
The Intramuros-based squad were able to romp in the first canto, starting with a clean 12-to-nothing run. Few strides later, Javillonar drills his second quick trey to expand the lead to 12 and finish the quarter, 27-15.
This quarter is the best opening yet in their second round journey, accumulating a high-volume shot chart as compared to their previous outing against the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals, where they scored 28 points combined in the first half.
Despite finding good rhythm in their shot attempts and offensive tactics, the Blazers managed to equalize the footing as they wiped Letran’s 12-point cushion by relying on their towering trio of Allen Liwag, Justine Sanchez, and Mark Sangco.
The Knights were seemingly playing like the ghosts of their previous games, being haunted by the defense, and at one stretch, being cuffed to just two made field goals for 8 minutes. This reversal on both ends, resulted in losing the lead halfway through the game, 37-47.
The College of St. Benilde took control of the following periods with a bevy of transition points and remained glued on their defensive tactics in the zone.
Javillonar continued to heat up from long range, hitting five more triples before eventually losing grip of the match. In the final minutes, Deo Cuajao minimized the lead down to five with a three of his own, but the clock drained quickly as they put pressure on the defensive end.
He was backstopped by the star-rookie, Jimboy Estrada, who churned out a double-double, 13 points, 11 assists, and eight boards.
Benilde was efficient in sharing the rock, dishing out a total of 26 assists, which helped the MVP frontrunner, Liwag, to bag an all-around game of 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
The Knights’ path to the semifinals gets murkier than ever, needing to secure the victory in their remaining games now that they are at a one-game deficit against their Intramuros-rivals, the LPU Pirates. The next game against the current third seed, San Beda Red Lions, will be on Sunday, November 10.
QUARTER SCORES: 27-15, 37-47, 54-62, 78-83
LETRAN (78) - Javillonar 31, Estrada 13, Cuajao 10, Montecillo 9, Miller 6, Nunag 5, Monje 4, Delfino 0, Dimaano 0, Jumao-as 0, Pradella 0.
BENILDE (83) - Liwag 20, Sanchez 16, Sangco 11, Ancheta 7, Eusebio 7, Torres 7, Ynot 7, Ondoa 6, Morales 2, Cajucom 0, Cometa 0, Oli 0.