Colegio de San Juan de Letran quickly returned to its winning ways after snapping San Sebastian College-Recoletos' win streak, 78-66, in the NCAA Season 99 juniors basketball tournament on Sunday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.
The Squires, who were coming off an uncharacteristic 88-72 loss to rival San Beda University last Friday, improved to 2-1 while the Staglets absorbed their first defeat to fall to a similar 2-1 card.
George Diamante and Syrex Silorio were the usual suspects for the Allen Ricardo-mentored squad with the former dropping a double-double effort of 11 points and 10 rebounds alongside five assists despite being bothered by early foul trouble.
The latter, on the other hand, churned out 13 markers and nine boards on top of four dimes, two steals, and two blocks to help Letran pull away for good in the fourth quarter.
Diamante sent the Squires to their biggest lead of the game at 18, 75-56, before the Staglets staged a mini run with Ruvic Danag and Ben Jimenez rallying San Sebastian to cut the deficit to 10, 74-64.
Diamante, who was one of the two Defensive Player of the Year winners in Season 98, put on the finishing kick, issuing a pass to an unlikely hero in Alex Gazzingan before he sank the final basket off an assist from Silorio.
Gazzingan finished with 13 points while Jonathan Manalili chipped in 11 points, four assists, and two rebounds.
Meanwhile, Paul Enal dropped another double-double showing to steer Jose Rizal University to an 85-79 escape of Lyceum of the Philippines University and to their breakthrough victory.
Enal, who won the DPOY alongside Diamante last year, dropped 11 points and 13 rebounds together with two assists as the Light Bombers improved to 1-2. The Junior Pirates, meanwhile, remained winless at 0-3.
This is the second straight game that Enal put together a double-double outing as he also dropped a whopping 22-point and 18-rebound performance in their 94-86 loss to the Braves last Friday.
—Bea Micaller/JKC, GMA Integrated News
