Knights all pumped up with F4 entry

Games Tuesday (MOA Arena, Pasay)

12 noon – St. Benilde vs LPU (jrs)

2 p.m. – Mapua vs Arellano (srs)

4 p.m. – San Beda vs Letran (srs)

MANILA, Philippines - The Letran Knights, making the 2015 NCAA Final Four on a fairytale ride, hope they could go all the way to win the championship.

“Of course, I will lie to you if I say we’re not thinking of winning the NCAA championship,” said Aldin Ayo moments after the Knights pulled off another big surprise in routing Perpetual Help, 93-64, Friday to make a return trip to the Final Four after missing the cut last season.

Four months ago, nobody expected the team to make it this far, getting poor reviews from collegiate basketball pundits.

But the Knights defied the odds, assuring themselves of a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four. Letran and San Beda, with identical 13-5 win-loss marks, fight for playoff top seeding on Tuesday at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

“We will fight them, kahit tumbang preso o patintero pa yan,” said Ayo.

“To tell you honestly, I had a strong feeling that we would do good this season I just didn’t express it because I did’t want to put pressure on the players,” said Ayo.

The Knights took to heart their 73-77 loss to San Beda Tuesday, pouring their frustration on the Altas Friday.

Ayo said his players took the loss as a personal affront. He mentioned Kevin Racal, who came hours before call time in practice the next day.

“We had a 1 p.m. practice the day after but K-Racs (Racal) came into the game at 11 a.m. and started shooting. You could see how determined he is to bounce back. It’s the reason why he is a PBA first rounder,” said Ayo of Racal, who was picked 11th overall by Alaska in this year’s PBA rookie draft.

Cruz too didn’t like losing.

In the end, Racal and Cruz carried the Knights to the Final Four with a pair of clutch performances against the Altas.