LETRAN finally barged to the Final Four with a huge 79-61 win over San Sebastian College in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 94 seniors basketball action on Tuesday at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
It took three years for the Knights to get past the elimination round after a fruitful 2015 championship against the San Beda Red Lions.
From there, Letran would see a drastic change, where its former coach, Aldin Ayo, shipped himself to De La Salle in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines.
Jeff Napa, who took over the coaching reins, brushed off the air of excitement and remained focused on giving the school another run for the title.
“We are thankful because we reached this situation. But we still have two games before we look forward to the Final Four,” said Napa, whose team improved to 12 wins against four losses.
The Knights’ last two eliminations games are crucial in their bid to snatch a twice-to-beat incentive in the semifinals.
The mission is far from over.
“We want to perform and rest assured, we will work hard. We will give our Final Four opponent a good fight,” Napa said.
Letran’s Larry Muyang collected 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Bonbon Batiller added 15 points that went with six boards. Nico Galvelo was also on fire with four triples for 14 points.
Despite the Stags’ scoring blitz in the third quarter, the Knights limited the CM Recto-based dribblers to a nine-point output in the fourth quarter as the lead ballooned to a high of 22.
Michael Calisaan scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the already-eliminated Stags (4-12).
Image credits: Roy Domingo