Knight reestablish presence, humble Blazers

MANILA, Philippines – Three-peat seeking Letran has become an afterthought after a horrendous start in NCAA Season 98.

Fran Yu made sure they return to significance.

Unleashing a clutch performance that he is known for, Yu dished out a masterful all-around effort as the Knights brought the College of St. Benilde Blazers to their knees with an 81-75 victory Friday to restore order in NCAA Season 98 at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

“I just want to help my team in any way I can to win,” said Yu, who had 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists and the same number of steals.

The Knights reclaimed a spot in the magic four with a 2-1 record while dealing the Blazers their first defeat after opening the season with three straight victories.

The back-to-back titlist also put its excruciating 72-69 defeat to Arellano University — the former’s first loss in three years — last Sunday behind them.

CSB kept the solo lead though despite the defeat.

And the Blazers could have stayed undefeated if not for a third quarter implosion and an endgame collapse.

It didn’t help that CSB missed its second best scorer Miguel Oczon due to health reasons.

Brent Paraiso had a heavenly scoring game after he erupted for a team-best 25 points, 23 of which came in the first half when he kept the Knights’ head above water.

Then Yu took over when it mattered.

Will Gozum and Miguel Corteza paced the Blazers with 23 and 18 points, respectively, but they just couldn’t fill in the Oczon, who averaged 14 points a game, vacuum.

Meanwhile, the league announced it is rescheduling San Sebastian’s games against Lyceum of the Philippines U today and Emilio Aguinaldo College on Tuesday after six of its players went under health and protocols.

The league has a rule that if at least two players went in isolation, it’s games in the next seven days will be automatically postponed.

The scores:

Letran 81 – Paraiso 25, Yu 12, Javillonar 10, Monje 10, Caralipio 8, Reyson 6, Santos 6, Sangalang 4, Ariar 0, Olivario 0, Bautista 0

CSB 75 – Gozum 23, Corteza 18, Nayve 10, Lepalam 10, Cullar 7, Sangco 4, Pasturan 2, Flores 1, Marcos 0, Carlos 0, Dimayuga 0

Quarterscores: 25-25; 50-46; 71-62; 81-75