By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
GOT tripped in their previous assignments, the Letran Knights and Arellano Chiefs look to get back some lost ground and give their struggling campaign in Season 93 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a jolt when they collide against one another in league action today at the FilOil Flying V Center in San Juan City.
Set to get tangled at 4 p.m., both the Knights and Chiefs, middling teams halfway into the ongoing season of the country’s longest-standing collegiate league, are out to get back to their winning ways after suffering losses last time around that stymied their tournament progress.
Letran (5-6), in joint fourth place along with two other teams, lost to the Jose Rizal University (JRU) Heavy Bombers, 77-68, last Thursday.
In said game the Knights played catch-up throughout the contest and were never really allowed by their opponents to gain much headway.
JP Calvo led the way for Letran with 21 points in the loss.
Rey Nambatac had 14 points while Bong Quinto had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The loss was the second for the Knights in as many games in the second round and pushed them in the red after finishing the opening round of the eliminations at 5-4.
ARELLANO
On the part of Arellano (4-7), the losing finalist last season, it is coming off a defeat at the hands of the still-undefeated and league-leaders Lyceum Pirates, 94-92, last Friday, a game that the Chiefs had a very good shot at winning but just could not finish things.
Led by guard by Kent Salado, Arellano had Lyceum in the ropes for much of the contest only to falter in the end, allowing the Pirates to come back in the payoff period from as much as 13 points down before completing the come-from-behind victory.
The loss had the Chiefs very embarrassed and disappointed, seeing how they blew a good opportunity to notch a big win as well as deal the Pirates their first defeat of the season.
“It was a tough loss for us. It was embarrassing. We were already in a position to win but just could complete it,” said Salado in the vernacular after the loss.
Salado had 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds while big man Lervin Flores finished with 15 points, 11 boards and six blocks.
Preceding the Letran-Arellano clash is the battle between JRU (7-4) and the Emilio Aguinaldo College Generals (5-6) at 2 p.m.
Meanwhile, Lyceum skipper MJ Ayaay is the reigning NCAA Player of the Week on the strength of his solid performance in their win over Arellano recently.
With the Pirates risking losing for the first time this season when they fell behind the Chiefs late in the contest, Ayaay led the charge back, punctuated by scoring the go-ahead basket with seven seconds to go which paved the way for the team salvaging the win.
Ayaay finished the game with a double-double of 20 points, 13 coming in the fourth quarter, and 10 rebounds for Lyceum, which played the closing moments of the game sans do-it-all forward CJ Perez after fouling out.
“We just listened to one another. We were down big at one point but we just stayed positive and worked our way back,” said Ayaay of the big win they had.