Ranged against a hungry, hot-shooting team, Letran College pulled out its biggest weapon in its arsenal to complete a rare three peat in the National Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament late Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.

Knights coach Bonnie Tan said they relied on their tough, in-your-face defense to silence the Blazers and eke out an 81-67 victory in Game 3 of their Season 98 best-of-three finals showdown.

Tan, a seasoned tactician who is also the team manager of NorthPort in the Philippine Basketball Association, said they have to revise their game plan following the suspension of captain Fran Yu in the sudden-death duel.

Without Yu, the heart and soul of the Knights on both ends, the Blazers threatened to steal the game and essay a fitting ending to their 22-year title drought.

Then, the Knights relied on their tough defense to contain the Blazers, holding them to only 12 points in the second quarter to dictate the tempo the rest of the way.

"We focused more on our rotation. That's what we have been discussing the entire game," said Tan, who instructed the Knights to display a brand of defense last seen during their glory years under former coach Louie Alas.

"Defense wins championships. We told them to stick to the game plan and we will definitely win."

True enough, the absence of Yu led to the rise of new heroes for Letran.

Veteran Bren Paraiso was impressive while Louie Sangalang, Tommy Olivario, Pao Javillonar and Kurt Reyson had their shining moments as they asserted their presence against a Benilde squad that couldn't find an answer to their airtight man-to-man defense.

The defense was so suffocating, so annoying that newly-crowned Most Valuable Player Will Gozum lost it and planted an elbow at the back of Brent Paraiso's head in the final 1:44.