COLEGIO de San Juan de Letran and the College of Saint Benilde are gearing up to finish the NCAA Season 102 men’s basketball tournament crossover round with a statement victory on Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The action kicks off at 3 p.m. with the Letran Knights (5-3) locking horns with the Benilde Blazers (6-2). Following that matchup at 6 p.m., the University of Perpetual Help System-Dalta (2-6) will face off against the Jose Rizal University (JRU) Heavy Bombers (6-2).
Letran heads into the game fresh off a hard-fought 70-66 win against JRU, powered by Chad Gammad’s 21 points and four rebounds, with Denzil Walker chipping in 11 markers.
The Knights achieved the victory despite playing without their star guard, Titing Manalili, who continues to recover from a right knee injury sustained against the Lyceum of the Philippines University.
“Despite Jonathan (Titing) not playing, I can see them step up, the other guards. I know the boys are working really hard and they worked as a team, they found their rhythm and we managed to handle the pressure,” head coach Allen Ricardo said during the post-game press conference.
However, overcoming a vengeful Benilde squad will be no easy task. The Blazers are looking to bounce back from an 86-78 loss to Emilio Aguinaldo College, where Justine Sanchez and John Morales each contributed 16 points.
A victory for Benilde could propel them to the top of the Group A standings, while Letran aims to break a 5-3 deadlock with Arellano University.
Meanwhile, the JRU Heavy Bombers look to regain their footing in Group A as they take on the struggling Perpetual Altas, who are currently mired in a five-game skid.
With the crossover round coming to a close, teams will return to their respective group stages to face bracket opponents once more.
The top two teams at the end of this phase will secure a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals, the third seed will need to win twice to advance, and the bottom two squads will head to the play-in tournament.
