The Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights finally clinched its first win of Group A of the 2017 FilOil Flying V Pre-season Premier Cup, upending the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers, 89-81, in overtime, Wednesday afternoon at the FilOil Flying V Centre.
Jerrick Balanza rallied the Knights with 24 points off 9-of-16 shooting but fouled out in overtime. But it was Bong Quinto and JP Calvo who picked up the scraps in extra time.
Leading by just a basket after the break, Quinto spearheaded Letran’s rally in the third period, scoring seven points in the 15-6 run to push the lead to 18, 64-46, three minutes left in the quarter. Balanza then waxed hot from behind-the-arc scoring three treys to close out the period for the Knights.
The Tigers, however, turned to their defense to mount a huge comeback in the fourth quarter. Jordan Sta. Ana and Christian Garcia scored in transition, but the biggest shot of the payoff period came from Marvin Lee.
The spitfire guard converted an open trey to put UST in the lead for a long time at 79-74, 59.4 left in the game.
Nonetheless, Balanza made sure to rescue the Letran’s meltdown with a split from the line and sent the game into overtime.
In the extension, Quinto and Balanza took charge as in the third period to put the game away for good.
As both teams are into penalty, the overtime period turned into free throw shooting contest with the lead reaching six, 87-81, 23 seconds left, after two from JP Calvo to seal the Intramuros side’s first win.
Quinto finished with a double-double, scoring 20 points and 15 rebounds. Calvo added 10 points and eight dimes.
“I give credit to the boys,” Letran head coach Jeff Napa commented on the win. “Yung character ng boys, unti-unting lumalabas at this point na were nursing some injuries, yung iba naman nagii-step up.”
Napa was referring to ace player Rey Nambatac who is out for the tournament due to hyper-extended left knee.
Steve Akomo bullied his way inside with 23 points, going 11-for-21 from the foul line, 15 rebounds, and four blocks for UST. Garcia added 17 markers off a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the inside.
UST had a whopping 50 free throw attempts in the game, converting on just 26. The smaller Letran line-up out-rebounded UST though, 59-42.
The Knights will try get another victory as they face the University of the East (2-4) on Wednesday, June 7 at 5:00 pm. On the other hand, the Growling Tigers (1-5) will attempt to bounce back when they battle the undefeated San Beda College (3-0) on Sunday, June 4 at 3:15 pm.
The Scores:
CSJL (89) – Balanza 24, Quinto 20, Calvo 10, Vacaro 10, Ambohot 9, Taladua 8, Caralipio 4, Balagasay 2, Bernabe 2, Pamulaklakin 0, Gedaria 0, Pascual 0, Mandreza 0.
UST (81) – Akomo 23, Garcia 17, Lee 16, Huang 9, Sta.Ana 7, Basibas 4, Caunan 4, Escalambre 1, De Guzman 0, Faundo 0, Macasaet 0, Lorenzana 0.
Quarterscores: 23-22, 35-33, 64-51, 74-74, 89-81.
