San Beda University overpowered Colegio de San Juan de Letran with a 102-77 blowout win in their rivalry game in the Group B of the 15th FilOil EcoOil Preseason Cup on Sunday in San Juan City.
The Red Lions (1-3) got their first win in the preseason. The Knights, on the other hand, got their second straight loss in four games.
San Beda dominated the entire game, leading by as much as 35 after a Damie Cuntapay free throw right at the 3:05-mark of the third, 81-46.
“Of course, the first [win] is always nice, and it’s a rattle dahil Letran ‘yung nakalaban namin,” said Red Lions head coach Yuri Escueta on attaining their first win in the [reseason Cup. “But again what I said to my players is we had time to practice last week eh. So parang this our first full month of practice, so we took advantage of it, we strengthened our principles, tiyaka ‘yung mga pina-practice namin.
“Sabi ko ‘yun lang gawin sa game, hindi ko nga man sinabi sa kanila na kahit Letran kalaban natin kailangan diba… we just wanted to focus on the game, and on what we are trying to do more on thinking that we are playing as rivals,” the former Red Cub continued.
Five Red Lions finished in double digits led by James Kwekuteye with 18 points on 27-percent shooting together with five rebounds and five assists.
Joining him are Peter Alfaro with 16 markers, four boards, and three dimes, and JB Bahio with 13 points, nine rebounds, two steals and a block.
Letran, on their side, had more fouls (32) than field goals (24), with Fran Yu and Tommy Olivario fouling out of the game.
Yu was also slapped with an unsportsmanlike foul at the 3:17-mark of the third canto after a hard foul on Justine Sanchez.
Despite fouling out, Yu still finished with a game-high 21 points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Louie Sangalang also ended up with 16 points on 75-percent shooting and six boards despite being in foul trouble (4 fouls) just in the second period.
Both teams will face University of Santo Tomas in their next game. San Beda on Monday at 3 PM, while Letran on Wednesday at 11 AM.
The Scores:
San Beda 102 — Kwekuteye 18, Alfaro 16, Cometa 14, Bahio 13, Ynot 10, Sanchez 9, Penuela 8, Cortez 7, Cuntapay 4, Andrada 2, Jopia 1, Visser 0, Tagala 0, Garcia 0, Llarena 0, Teruel 0.
Letran 77 –– Yu 21, Sangalang 16, Reyson 14, Caralipio 7, Santos 6, Olivario 5, Tolentino 3, Paraiso 2, Miclat 2, Guarino 1, Bataller 0, Bautista 0, Go 0, Lantaya 0, Ariar 0.
Quarterscores: 26-19, 55-37, 84-54, 102-77.
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The entire 2022 Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup will stream LIVE on Smart Sports Facebook page
