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| Bryan Sajonia bucked his early struggles to win it for San Beda. NCAA |
MANILA––Another chapter of their intense rivalry, another wild ending, but it took the guts of one player who was struggling from long range to decide the game.
Bryan Sajonia defied his early struggles and shot the marginal basket as San Beda turned back Letran, 66-64, in their heated NCAA clash on Tuesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
Sajonia, who was 0-for-6 from three-point range, fired a long triple with 42.6 seconds left that gave the Red Lions the lead.
Nat Montecillo tried to give the Knights the lead back only to miss his corner three, but they got the ball back with 6.2 seconds to go after forcing a shotclock violation.
Deo Cuajao decided to go for a quick three, but his shot did not even hit the rim and James Payosing, assigned to guard Cuajao, grabbed the rebound with 0.8 seconds left.
Payosing, knowing that Letran can call a timeout with a dead ball, intentionally missed his second free throw to force his opponents to heave the ball from way out that did not even reach its target.
Jomel Puno led San Beda, which moved up to 4-3, with 22 points on 8-of-14 field goals, 10 rebounds, and two assists.
Sajonia, Daniel Celzo, Menard Songcuya, and Yukien Andrada each added eight points.
Kevin Santos put up 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three blocks for Letran, which fell to 5-3.
The scores:
SAN BEDA 66 – Puno 22, Celzo 8, Sajonia 8, Songcuya 8, Andrada 8, Payosing 6, Tagle 3, Estacio 3, Gonzales 0, Calimag 0, Tagala 0, Royo 0
LETRAN 64 – Santos 18, Estrada 16, Cuajao 12, Nunag 7, Montecillo 5, Miller 4, Monje 2, Jumao-As 0, Go 0, Dimaano 0, Baliling 0
Quarter scores: 20-16, 30-32, 49-51, 66-64
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