Knights eye solo third vs Blazers

LETRAN battles dangerous College of St. Benilde today, with the Knights eyeing solo third in the resumption of the 87th NCAA Seniors basketball tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

With a 3-1 card, the Knights will try to overtake guest team Lyceum (4-3) for third place when they collide with the Blazers (1-3) at 2 p.m.

Emilio Agunaldo College (2-1) also tries to improve its standing when the Generals take on the cellar-dwelling Mapua Cardinals (0-4) in the other seniors game at 4 o’clock.

In a tournament that has become full of surprises by the day, underscored by host Universal of Perpetual Help’s gruelling 79-77 triple overtime win over Jose Rizal University last Wednesday, Letran coach Louie Alas said it would be a big mistake to take the Blazers lightly.

The Knights will go into the game still reeling from a 62-71 setback to frontrunner San Sebastian College (5-0) last week while the Blazers battled defending champion San Beda down-the-wire before the Red Lions emerged with a hairline 79-78 win.

Letran boasts a deep bench led by Kevin Alas, son of coach Louie, who has been norming 14.3 points per game, and Jai Cortes, who has been averaging 10.3 points and 11.5 rebounds.

Kevin Racal, Jonathan Belorio, JV Espiritu and Raymund Almazan are the Knights’ other reliables.

Carlo Lastimosa, who virtually battled San Beda singlehandedly the last time out, will lead the Blazers’ attack. He has averaged 16.7 points per game.

He is expected to be backed up by Mark Romero (10.8 points and 6.3 rebounds).