Louie Sangalang showed his hunger to win the game against College of St. Benilde.
With Sangalang leading the way, the Knights of Letran continued their mastery over the Blazers. They grabbed a 74-66 victory and earning their eighth consecutive win this season.
Sangalang showed another facet of his game, delivering a career-high 21 points along with nine rebounds and three blocks.
And he made sure to show CSB that they are still the kings of the Grand Old League.
“Sa akin sinasabi lang sa akin lagi ng mga coach ‘bigay ko lang ‘yung best ko, laruin ko lang yung role ko.’ ‘yun lang,” Sangalang said.
“Ayun binigay ko lang ‘yung best ko ngayon. Di na ako nag tira kasi importante sa amin tong game na ‘to.”
With four games left for Letran, Letran has overtaken Benilde at the top of the table, with an 11-3 record for a full game lead.
For head coach Bonnie Tan, he challenged his big guys – mainly in Sangalang and Paolo Javilionar – to toughen up against CSB’s Will Gozum.
Gozum is the leading candidate for MVP this season.
“Will Gozum is playing his best season siguro – running for MVP. ‘Yun ‘yung challenge namin na with our bigs no?
He explained, “Mainly, Louie and Pao [Javilionar]… Sabi namin na siguro ‘pag dalawahin na lang tayo, puwede tayo manalo diyan against sa isang tao na key player ng CSB.
Tan went on, “We really need to make hard for them talagang to… Kung ano natin makaka-score, pero pahirapan dapat from ‘yung entry pass for them. Mga scorers nila, we limited ‘yung mga touches din nila. And medyo nag-work out kahit papaano, medyo minalas kanina sa mga last quarter ‘yung outside shooting nila,” he continued.
Still, Sangalang deflected all the credit to his teammates, expressing his gratitude to them for stepping up and showing all-out composure from start to finish.
“Lahat naman kami nag-step up kami, lahat naman po kami nag i-step up talagang nag tulungan lang po kami para sa panalo namin.”
