Games on Friday (The Arena)
10 a.m. – San Beda vs Mapua (Jrs)
11:45 a.m. – Perpetual vs San Sebastian (Jrs)
2 p.m. – San Beda vs Mapua (Srs.)
4 p.m. – Perpetual vs San Sebastian (Srs)

Letran and Arellano University hammered out huge wins on Wednesday to keep their share of fourth spot in the 85th NCAA basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan City.

Letran repeated over Emilio Aguinaldo College, 92-66, while Arellano thumped College of St. Benilde, 82-72, as the Knights and the Chiefs notched their sixth win in 10 starts.

In junior’s action, Letran crushed EAC, 125-61, to stretch its amazing run to 10 wins while College of St. Benilde downed Arellano, 81-37.

In the first seniors game, the Knights pounced on the Generals’ erratic plays to lead by as many as 32 points.

“Very passive kami nung kami last game, pero this time makikita mo aggressive sila sa defense,” said Letran coach Louie Alas, the architect behind the Knights’ 16th title in 2005.

So crippling was the Knights’ defense that they forced the Generals to 34 errors, a big jump to their 15 per game average in the first round.

The Knights held the Generals to only eight points in the second quarter to pull away from a slim 12-11 lead to a series of double-digit leads which the Generals found hard to overcome to tumble to 2-8.

While their pesky defense neutralized the Generals at one side of the court, RJ Jazul presided over in offense at the other end.

A member of the Smart Gilas national team, Jazul fired 21 points which he highlighted with season-high 13 assists, five rebounds and four steals. Jazul, a leading MVP contender, also rained down four triples in 28 minutes of action. Alas was not surprised with the way Jazul played.

“Maganda talaga ang pinapakita niya sa practice lately. Iba yung intensity niya at very vocal siya sa teammates niya. Makikita mo yung desire sa kanya,” said Alas, whose squad sank 14-of-28 shots from the rainbow territory for an impressive 50 percent clip.

Rey Guevarra, another Smart Gilas stalwart, fired with 21 points on 4-of-4 shooting from the field, while Kirk Del Rosario had 11, and Jamieson Cortes and Jaypee Belecion each had nine as the Knights duplicated their slim 85-84 overtime win.

Aloysis Taplah finished with seven points, including a jumper that pushed the Knights to their biggest lead 92-60 with under three minutes left.

The scores:
First Game (Jrs)
LETRAN 125 – Tampus 31, Khobuntin 24, Maravilla 12, So 11, Inigo 10, Ongteco 10, Cabigas 9, Cruz 8, Cabahug 4, Villanueva 2, Medina 2, Cudal 2, Crisologo 0, Reyes 0.
EAC 61 – Alanes 16, Canaynay 10, Booc 9, Cuello 6, Magtaas 6, Mayone 6, Guinita 3, Padrones 2, Denora 2, Ocampo 1, Onqubere 0.
Quarters: 37-13, 59-32, 96-45, 125-61.

Second Game (Jrs)
CSB 81 – Sta. Maria 18, Flores 10, Sollano 9, Carlos 8, Trajano 7, Pumaren 7, Tanhueco 6, Lee 6, Sayson 4, Vergara 2, Sy 2, Miguel 2, Diaz 0, Calaquian 0.
ARELLANO 37 – Caperal 17, Cruz 12, Guzman 4, Perucho 2, Gurrobat 2, Tolentino 0, Regalado 0, de Leon 0.
Quarters: 22-8, 42-20, 64-32, 81-57.

Third Game (Srs)
LETRAN 92 – Jazul 21, Guevarra 21, del Rosario 11, Cortes 9, Belencion 9, Taplah 7, Malabago 3, Ang 3, Gutilban 3, Datang 2, Kr. Alas 2, Foronda 1, Publico 0, Pantin 0.
EAC 66 – Mendoza 21, Cubo 12, del Rosario 7, Santos 6, Liwag 4, R. Yaya 3, Ong 3, Jabaybay 3, Chong 3, L. Yaya 2, Diolanto 2, Sablan 0, Pingol 0.
Quarters: 12-11, 32-19, 66-46, 92-66.