Basketball
La Salle outlasts Letran in fight-marred Fr. Martin Summer Cup encounter
The La Salle Green Archers, with Jason Perkins stepping up in the final quarter, fended off the Letran Knights, 70-62, in a fight-marred encounter last Tuesday at the St. Placid gymnasium of the San Beda College-Manila campus in Mendiola.
Struggling for the rest of the game after losing big man Alfonso Gotladera to a scuffle involving three other Knights in the first quarter, the Green Archers bagged the second quarterfinals berth in Group B of the 18th Fr. Martin Summer Cup basketball tournament.
They got 17 of 20 points from Perkins in the last period, and this included nine crucial points which enabled La Salle to posted its fifth win in seven games.
La Salle joined the Knights in the quarterfinals, along with the Ateneo Blue Eagles, who are unbeaten after five games in Group A.
In other games, Mark Montuano and Ferdie Limin fired 12 points each to lead Informatics to an 82-55 tripping of the Trinity Stallions and stay in contention for a quarterfinals seat in Group B at 4-2.
Manuel Mosqueda eked out 14 points while Exequiel Biteng made 12 points for the National University Bullpups, who won over Naga Montessori, 91-60, and remain in the running for a quarterfinal seat in the juniors Group B.
The Knights, who played without three men after Raymund Almazan got into trouble with Gotladera with 2:30 left in the first canto, and teammates Jam Cortes and Japeth Almario entered the court to intervene, finished the eliminations with a 6-1 win-loss slate.
After Gotladera, Almazan, Cortes and Almario were thrown out of the game, the Knights kept matters close until the last 7:55.
Slightly ahead, 53-49, and with scoring ace Jeron Teng limited to just two points, Perkins struck with crucial baskets, allowing La Salle to move away, 64-59, in the last 1:54.
With Teng and Thomas Torres having a bad day, Yutien Andrada picked up the slack on their behalf with 14 points.
Gotladera will miss the quarterfinals because of a one-game suspension, and so will Almazan, Cortes and Almario.
