Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Letran Knights regained solo leadership in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) after trouncing the College of St. Benilde, 79-69, on Thursday (September 10) at The Arena in San Juan.
In the second game, Perpetual Help downed San Beda, 88-86, behind the Herculean effort of Bright Akhuetie.
With the Red Lion’s defeat, the Knights strengthened their hold on the top spot with an 11-2 win-loss tally.
Kevin Racal led the Knights with an all-around effort of 18 points, three rebounds, five assists, and five steals. But it was really Mark Cruz’s heroics down the stretch that put the stranglehold on the victory for Letran.
With an early fourth period surge, the Blazers turned the game into a tight match, even leading by a whisker, 65-64.
But not for long.
Benilde failed to fan the flames as Cruz uncorked eight straight points capped by a pair of free throws to put the game away, 77-67 with 2:15 to go.
Meanwhile, Akhuetie’s 31-point, 11-rebound, three-assist outing helped the Altas improve to 9-4 to tie the Arellano University at No. 3.
In fact, he made the game-winning short stab at the buzzer against the outstretched arms of counterpart Ola Adeogun.
