NCAA 87: Letran fortifies hold of second spot

Letran fortified its hold of the second spot after repeating over Emilio Aguinaldo College, 80-58, in Wednesday's 87th NCAA men's basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City. Raymund Almazan filled in the void left by Jam Cortes, who served a one game suspension after accumulating three flagrant 1 fouls, with the 6-foot-7 big man tallying 11 points and 11 rebounds. "I'm glad that (Almazan) stepped up. He filled in the 12 points and 10 rebounds that we missed in Cortes' absence," said Letran coach Louie Alas, who improved to 12-2 this season. The Generals dropped to a 4-11 record. The Knights, minus Cortes, struggled in the first half as they even trailed 17-14 at the end of the opening period. The Generals hiked their advantage to seven, 29-22, midway in the second quarter. Letran playmaker Kevin Alas then engineered a 14-4 closing run to tie the count at 35-all at halftime. Almazan and Francis Dysam joined hands in the third to hike the Knights' lead to 46-36. EAC threatened at 46-42 but Letran, behind the combined efforts of brothers Kevin and Kristoffer Alas, unleashed a 13-4 scoring exchange for a 13-point spread (59-46) entering the final canto. Kevin Alas scored 20 points, grabbed a personal-best 11 rebounds, issued six assists, had one steal and one block to lead the Knights. — JVP, GMA News