Knights rally past Blazers, move to 3rd

MANILA, Philippines — Letran dominated the paint and shut down College of St. Benilde in the stretch to eke out a 64-60 victory yesterday and move to solo third in the 94th NCAA seniors basketball tournament at Letran Gym in Intramuros.

Trailing by three points, 57-60, with 3.27 minutes remaining in the contest, the taller Knights controlled the shaded area and held the Blazers scoreless the rest of the way while scoring seven points of their own to notch their third straight win against a loss.

Bong Quinto paced the Knights with 17 points while new acquisitions Larry Muyang and Chris Fajarito dished out big games for the second straight time and finished with 10 points apiece to the delight of the home crowd in the NCAA on Tour.

The Muyang-Fajarito frontcourt tandem also starred in Letran’s 74-58 romp over the JRU Bombers last week, scoring 14 points apiece.

With the duo crashing both boards, the Knights won the duel, 41-32, including 18-12 on the offensive end that led to more second chance points, 12-4.

“It’s always a luxury to have big men and we just want to take advantage with it as long as we can,” said Letran coach Jeff Napa.