By: Kim Yoshi Espiritu
Photo courtesy of Asiabasket.
The Letrans Knights hung tightly to evade a second quarter barrage from the Formosa Tiger Kings, 104-100, in the Asiabasket 2025 International Invitational held Yesterday, July 23, at Playtime FilOil Centre in San Juan City.
Leading the counter attack was Kevin Santos who had a team-high spread of 19 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, and a steal.
As Santos solidified the fort, Luis Tapenio and Jimboy Estrada followed suit with 15 and 10 points apiece, while Jonathan Manalili produced five markers and 10 dimes to keep their offense running.
Their opponents, the Formosa Tiger Kings, is a collegiate team competing under the University Basketball Association (UBA) in Taiwan. As expected of an international caliber group, the National Formosa University bannered Taiwan with pride, resilient tactics, and offensive finesse.
The Taiwanese crew fought tooth and nail with the Knights in all quarters until the final buzzer sounded, but put a scare to the Coach Allen Ricardo-led squad once they fired 41 points in the second — the best scoring quarter in the tournament, by far.
Letran went to their mechanics early in the first canto and managed to dig a 20-point hole in the score, 35-15. But the second quarter is where everything connected for Ko Shunkai and the Tiger Kings as they restricted the Knights‘ offense to nearly as half as their output
The Formosa shooting guard scored 15 of his 19 overall points in the second quarter, heading into halftime trailing a single possession differential, 58-56.
Both squads produced the same output in the third quarter, seeing two perennial point guards clash head on with Manalili running the game with his playmaking ability while Lin Mingwei unloaded timely three point shots.
Khaled Thaher made a crucial trey with less than two minutes left in the regulation, while Tseng Hsiang Wei tipped in a missed layup to trail just three points behind Letran, 99-96.
The Intramuros-based squad relied on Santos in the clutch moments as he drained two important charities before soaring for a slam dunk to regain momentum, however, Shunkai and Shen Yu Chun added four more points before Manalili sealed the game with his free throw shot.
Formosa proved to be a formidable opponent led by Mingwei’s game-best performance of 28 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and five steals. Jayden Jones also continued his scoring touch in the tournament with 19 markers, 10 boards, four dimes, and two steals before fouling out in the final frame.
The Letran Knights will move forward in the semifinals facing the Adamson University Soaring Falcons on July 24, Thursday, at the Playtime FilOil Centre.
QUARTER SCORES: 35-15, 58-56, 86-77, 104-100
LETRAN (104) - Santos 19, Tapenio 15, Estrada 10, Cuajao 9, Gazzingan 8, Alejandro 7, Rosilio 7, Yusi 7, Montecillo 6, Gammad 5, Manalili 5, Omega 4, Buensalida 2, Mundas 0.
FORMOSA (100) - Mingwei 28, Jones 19, Shunkai 19, Thaher 13, Chunyen 9, Hsiang Wei 6, Yu Chun 4, Jianping 2, Wei Jie 0.