THE Letran Knights are back on the winning track in Season 94 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) after they defeated the Mapua Cardinals, 84-63, in opening seniors play on Tuesday at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Lost their previous two assignments, the Knights recovered their footing against the Cardinals, dominating from the start to book the victory and halt their losing skid.
Showing better ball movement, Letran was in its offensive element right from the get-go, racing to a 13-8 lead in the first five minutes of the opening quarter before settling for a 23-13 advantage at the end of the period.
In the second quarter, the Knights continued to pound it on the Cardinals, with veterans Bong Quinto and JP Calvo leading the charge.
Letran would extend its lead to 17 points, 42-25, by the halftime break.
Mapua tried to gain some ground to start the third period but only saw matters turn for the worse with the Knights maintaining their go-getting mindset.
Letran’s lead stretched to 26 points, 59-33, midway into the third frame and stayed commanding the rest of the way, holding a 63-39 cushion heading into the final 10 minutes.
With the ball game pretty much under control, the Knights spent the fourth quarter just fending off the fight being put up by the Cardinals.
Former University of the East player Bonbon Batiller provided much of the firepower for the Knights as they sped to the skid-busting victory.
Calvo had 20 points to lead the Knights, who improved to 5-3 for the season after the win over Mapua.
Larry Muyang had 15 points while Quinto had a triple-double of 12 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists.
Batiller had 11 points with Chris Fajarito adding 10 for the Knights.
Arvin Gamboa was the lone Cardinal in double digits with 13 points.
“In our last game [against Lyceum] we had a tough loss. So coach [Jeff Napa] just told us to let it sink in and use it as motivation to bounce back in this game,” said Calvo following their victory. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
