PUSHED against the ropes by gritty Mapua University, defending champion Letran banked on its championship savvy anew yesterday.
Proving steadier in the endgame, the Knights outlasted the Cardinals 68-63 in Game 1 of their best-of-3 finals duel for the 97th NCAA basketball tournament crown at The Arena in San Juan.
Letran unleashed a crippling 13-1 windup behind Fran Yu, Jeo Ambohot, and Brent Paraiso in the last 3:10 that turned a 55-59 deficit into the final count and sealed the hard-earned win.
Louie Sangalang and Brent Paraiso notched 14 points each for the Knights, while MVP contender Rhenz Abando had 13 markers and seven rebounds before leaving the game for good with a left foot injury after a highlight putback dunk with 3:20 left in the third quarter and Letran trailing 45-47.
The Knights, coming off a 77-75 escape over Perpetual Help in their Final Four battle last week, seek to annex their second straight title in Game 2 on Sunday at the same venue.
Mapua failed to score a fitting follow-up to its 70-67 triumph over San Beda University also in their Final Four tiff five days ago.
