LETRAN ripped apart a hapless University of Perpetual Help, 93-64, on Friday at the Filoil Flying V Arena in San Juan City to assure itself of a safe passage to the Final Four of the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association seniors basketball tournament.
The Knights, nursing a 73-77 defeat to archrival San Beda last Tuesday, went on a 16-1 tear led by graduating players Mark Cruz and Kevin Racal against the lackadaisical Altas in the first five minutes to put the game out of reach early.
The pro-bound Cruz and Racal accounted for the team’s 15 points in the first period. Cruz finished with 18 points with eight assists in the match, while Racal added 15.
Letran and San Beda will dispute the No. 1 seed in the semifinals at 4 p.m. on Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Mapúa whacked Emilio Aguinaldo College, 88-63, and Josè Rizal University (JRU) shellacked San Sebastian, 91-69, in a pair of one-sided games to tie Arellano University in third place with a 12-6 (won-lost) at the end of the double-round eliminations.
JRU clinched third place with a superior quotient, while Mapúa and Arellano University will square off at 2 p.m. also on Tuesday to dispute the last berth in the Final Four.
JRU leaned on the sweet-shooting Paolo Pontejos, who fired a game-high 23 points built around five triples, and former juniors Most Valuable Player Darius Estrella contributed 11 markers in a breakout performance.
Allwell Oraeme powered Mapúa with an all-around effort of 16 points, 15 rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocks. Darrell Menina and Mark Braña added 14 each, while Josan Nimes had 13 points and seven assists.
Standings: San Beda 13-5, Letran 13-5, Arellano 12-6, Mapua 12-6, JRU 12-6, Perpetual Help 11-7, San Sebastian 6-11, Benilde 5-13, Lyceum 4-14, EAC 2-15.
Image credits: Kevin de la Cruz