Knights, Cardinals refuse to surrender

Letran College and Mapua University refused to go down without putting up a fight as they stunned their respective foes to keep their title chances alive in Season 101 National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

Behind the brilliance of Jimboy Estrada and Kevin Santos, the Knights shocked Arellano University, 87-78, to force a sudden-death quarterfinal battle while the reigning champion Cardinals pulled the rug from under College of Saint Benilde, 73-58, in the second match.

Estrada rose to the occasion as he dropped 22 points, four rebounds and two assists for the Knights, who started the season slow before roaring into contention to inch closer to a spot in the semifinals pending the outcome of their do-or-die quarterfinal battle against the Chiefs on Friday.

“We started flat. We couldn’t get our momentum because we gave up offensive rebounds and second chance points early in the game,” said Ricardo, who drew 20 points and nine rebounds from Kevin Santos and 15 points and nine assists from rookie playmaker Titing Manalili to underscore their superiority over the Chiefs.

“We just told them to get some stops and good execution of our plays to control the game.”

Tied at 58 with five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Estrada drained a triple and sparked a 11-0 run to help the Knights rip the game wide open and dictate the tempo the rest of the way.

Also refusing to waive the white flag of surrender were the Cardinals.

With star scorer Clint Escamis held to just two points, the Cardinals turned to Cyril Gonzales for firepower to post the crucial win that kept their hopes for back-to-back titles alive.

Mapua assistant coach Marlon Martin said the boys responded after they reminded them that they have no choice but to win the very crucial battle against the same team that bravely pushed them to the limit before they won their first title since 1991 in Season 100 last year.

“Our reminders were consistent, especially with Coach Randy (Alcantara). We really need to win this game,” Martin said.

“A lot of players stepped up offensively and it resulted to a win.”