Colegio de San Juan de Letran capped off a dominant elimination round campaign with an 85-67 win over Mapua University ahead of the Final Four stage of the NCAA Season 98 juniors basketball tournament on Monday.
Letran, whose only loss came at the hands of Arellano University, finished the regular season with an impressive 8-1 card while Mapua slipped to 6-3, forging a tie with College of Saint Benilde-La Salle Green Hills and San Sebastian College-Recoletos.
The Squires led by as many as 23 after a George Diamante putback early in the fourth period, 69-46, before the Red Robins staged a fightback. Mapua was able to pull to within 14, 71-57, courtesy of an 11-2 run led by Sean Salvador and Paolo Morenos.
But Letran pulled back up to a 21-point lead anew when Jonathan Manalili fueled a quick 7-0 rampage of their own, 78-57.
Diamante put the punctuation when he went for a one-handed slam as Letran never looked back with a comfortable 82-62 cushion in the final 50 seconds.
Jovel Baliling and Timothy Cruz led Letran with 15 points apiece while Diamante had seven markers and 14 rebounds as Letran awaits their Final Four opponent.
—JMB, GMA Integrated News
