NCAA: Letran grabs share of third, also gets payback on Mapua | ABS-CBN

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NCAA: Letran grabs share of third, also gets payback on Mapua

NCAA: Letran grabs share of third, also gets payback on Mapua

Norman Lee Benjamin Riego,

ABS-CBN Sports

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It's payback time. Josh Albeda, ABS-CBN Sports

Colegio de San Juan de Letran is the only team to fall to Mapua University in the NCAA 93 Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Still stinging from that sorry loss, the Knights were determined to exact revenge when they met their Intramuros neighbors again.

Rey Nambatac, Bong Quinto, and the rest of Letran did just that on Friday at the Filoil Flying V Centre, making quick work of the luckless Cardinals, 88-79.

Scoring 25 points on top of eight rebounds, the skipper led his squad to a win in the second serving of “The Battle of Intramuros.” “Talagang inisip namin yun. Gusto naming makabawi sa kanila,” he said post-game.

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Along with exacting revenge, the Knights also closed the door to contention on Mapua which will be certain to miss the next round with a lowly 1-12 standing.

More importantly for Jeff Napa’s wards, however, the win pushed them onto joint possession of the third-seed with Jose Rizal University. “Magandang bwelo ‘to para sa amin. First round kasi, ang daming drama pa e,” the head coach said.

He then continued, “Ngayon, na-pick up na lahat ng missing piece kaya napaganda na yung laro namin.”

Indeed, the determination was evident for Nambatac who dropped 11 of his output in the second quarter, outscoring all of their opponents who only mustered seven in the same timeframe.

Behind that big-time 26-7 second quarter, Letran built up the lead they would never relinquish until the final buzzer. “Credit to the boys kasi nagtrabaho talaga sila,” Napa said.

Quinto contributed 22 points, eight rebounds, and three assists while Jerrick Balanza and JP Calvo also added 14 and 13 markers, respectively.

While they stand inside the top four, Napa and his boys still have San Sebastian College-Recoletos, Emilio Aguinaldo College, and Arellano University breathing down their necks. “One game at a time pa rin kami. ‘Di namin iniisip yung mga pwedeng mangyari,” he expressed.

Far away from the thick of things are the Cardinals who bowed out of contention despite the best efforts of Christian Bunag who had 23 points and 12 rebounds.

BOX SCORES

LETRAN 88 – Nambatac 25, Quinto 22, Balanza 14, Calvo 13, Balagasay 6, Taladua 5, Mandreza 2, Vacaro 1, Gedaria 0, Bernabe 0, Pamulaklakin 0, Pascual 0

MAPUA 79 – Bunag 23, Gabo 15, Nieles 9, Estrella 9, Aguirre 8, Raflores 8, Victoria 4, Pelayo 3, Orquina 0

QUARTER SCORES: 21-18, 47-25, 66-50, 88-79

This story was originally published on the ABS-CBN Sports website.

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