MANILA, Philippines – The Letran Knights pushed their winning streak to three games in the NCAA Season 100 men’s basketball tournament after outlasting the Perpetual Altas in a nail-biting triple-overtime finish, 82-73, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre on Saturday, September 28.
A total of five players scored in double figures for the Knights in the hard-earned victory, with Deo Cuajao leading the charge with a game-high 19 points after seeing action for a whopping 48 minutes and 54 seconds.
Nat Motecillo backed up Cuajao with 14 points, while Jimboy Estrada continued his stellar, all-around play for Letran with 12 markers, 15 rebounds, and 7 assists.
Kevin Santos and Joseph Nunag poured in 12 and 11 markers, respectively, as the Knights secured the solo second spot with a 5-2 card and shoved Perpetual down to 4-3.
With Perpetual holding a precarious 52-50 lead with under 10 seconds to go in the fourth quarter, it was Santos who sent the game into first overtime with a putback off a Paolo Javillonar miss.
Interestingly, Santos also delivered the game-tying basket at the 1:09 mark of the first overtime that put the game into another extra period, 60-60, as both teams failed to score down the stretch.
With the score still knotted at 68-all in the final possession of the second overtime, Perpetual had a golden opportunity to win it all, but the wide-open Jearico Nunez failed to catch Christian Pagaran’s pass near the free throw line as the buzzer expired.
Finally, in the third and final overtime, Estrada took over for the Knights as he dropped 6 of his 12 points, including the tough fallaway jumper with 44.1 seconds left that put them up by 7 points, 80-73, and two free throws that settled the final score at 82-73.
Pagaran — who struggled with cramps in the overtime periods — and John Boral produced 14 points apiece to lead the Altas.
Shawn Orgo also breached double-digit scoring for Perpetual in the sorry loss with 11 points.
In another tightly contested Season 100 showdown, the Arellano Chiefs completed a stunning 72-70 upset over the defending champion San Beda Red Lions in the first game of the day.
Lorenz Capulong showed the way for the Chiefs with 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting as they bounced back in style from their narrow loss to the JRU Heavy Bombers last Wednesday, September 25.
Like Capulong, Jeadan Ongotan finished with 13 points for Arellano despite being held to a lowly 5-of-19 field goal clip.
For the Red Lions, Jomel Puno stepped up big with a game-high 20 points built on four triples, while RC Calimag added 14 markers.
JRU improved to 2-5, while San Beda slipped to an even 3-3 record.
The Scores
First Game
Arellano 72 – Capulong 13, Ongotan 13, Geronimo 12, Abiera 9, Borromeo 7, Vinoya 6, Hernal 4, Libang 4, Acop 2, Valencia 2, Camay 0, Miller 0, Dela Cruz 0.
San Beda 70 – Puno 20, Calimag RC. 14, Sajonia 9, Andrada 9, Payosing 5, Celzo 4, Estacio 3, Royo 2, Gonzales 2, Songcuya 2, Tagle 0, Calimag RI. 0, Jalbuena 0, Sollano 0.
Quarters: 19-24, 36-34, 50-50, 72-70.
Second Game
Letran 82 – Cuajao 19, Montecillo 14, Estrada 12, Santos 12, Nunag 11, Miller 8, Javillonar 6, Dimaano 0, Baliling 0, Go 0, Jumao-os 0, Delfino 0.
Perpetual 73 – Pagaran 14, Boral 14, Orgo 11, Cruz 9, Pizarro 8, Gelsano 6, Nunez 4, Montemayor 3, Abis 2, Manuel 2, Thompson 0.
Quarters: 11-10, 20-23, 37-45, 52-52, 60-60 (OT1), 68-68 (OT2), 82-73 (OT3).
– Rappler.com
