Colegio de San Juan de Letran got the better of the sister school matchup, beating University of Santo Tomas, 81-77, in Group B of the 15th FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup on Wednesday in San Juan City.
Letran remained at the four spot, now with 3-2. UST on the other hand, is now eliminated finishing the preseason with two wins and five loses.
With 30-ticks left, Santos knotted the score at 77-all before Brent Paraiso scored a huge layup giving his new home a two-point lead, 79-77, with 15 seconds remaining.
Concepcion tried to give UST the lead after a deep ball but missed, then King Caralipio put the nail in the coffin knocking down both his free throws to give Letran two-possession lead, 81-77 with seven seconds left in the game.
“Composure pinaka key word kasi nga, alam namin humahabol sila but sinasabi namin sa players, na kahit naman ganyang lamang, we need to be composed sa game,” said head coach Bonnie Tan
“With the absence of Rhenz, talagang napilay yung team, so we are still adjusting some rotations and combinations natin sa mga players na babago pa namin lalo na without him. So ayun, we’re still solving our problem as of the moment,” he added.
Before that, the Knights were holding on to a 20-point lead in the third before Sherwin Concepcion, Bryan Santos, and Nic Cabanero joined forces to make it single digits in the payoff period.
Caralipio led the Knights with 18 points, eight rebounds, an assist and a steal. Meanwhile, Neil Guarino dropped 15 markers, all from beyond-the-arc (5/10), six boards, and two dimes.
Former Tigers, Brent Paraiso, and Ira Bataller also played this game with the former finishing with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals, while the latter had five markers and four boards but fouled out early in the fourth.
For UST, Concepcion and Santos both finished with 19 points. Concepcion had three rebounds and four steals while having five boards and an assist.
Next up for Letran is San Sebastian College-Recoletos tomorrow, at 1:00 PM.
The Scores:
Letran 81 — Caralipio 18, Guarino 15, Paraiso 12, Reyson 8, Bataller 5, Olivario 5, Sangalang 4, Yu 4, Ariar 4, Go 4, Tolentino 2, Bautista 0.
UST 77 — Concepcion 19, Santos 19, Cabanero 15, Garing 9, Mantua 6, Manaytay 4, Lazarte 3, M. Pangilinan 2, Gesalem 0, Herrera 0, Escobido 0.
Quarterscores: 19-12, 44-30, 60-48, 81-77.
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The entire 2022 Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup will stream LIVE on Smart Sports Facebook page
