Aban steers Knights past scrappy Blazers

Aaron Aban took over for Letran in the fourth quarter, firing 10 points in that stretch to power the Knights to a tough 71-63 victory over the St. Benilde Blazers yesterday for a share of the lead with San Beda College in the 82nd NCAA basketball tournament at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Aban, one of the top prospects in the coming PBA Rookie Draft, finished 19 points while Boyet Bautista and Fiel Daa tossed in 12 points apiece as the Knights bounced back from a 49-57 setback to the Red Lions last Friday to notch their seventh victory in eight games.

But Letran coach Louie Alas was far from satisfied.

"We’re still playing bad and we need to improve on a lot of things," said Alas.

"Good thing Aaron stepped up in the last five minutes to give us this win," he added.

With its starters struggling, St. Benilde went to its second stringers majority of the game as the Blazers engaged the Knights to 12 lead changes and six deadlocks.

The Blazers even took the lead, 56-52, going into the final quarter but the Taft-based cagers failed to sustain that charge as Aban seized control of the game and the Knights shackled St. Benilde playmakers with a pesky defense.

Jeff Libunao came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points but nobody from the Blazers finished in double figures. St. Benilde took its seventh loss against a win.

Earlier, last year’s runner-up Philippine Christian U stayed within striking distance of the joint leaders after beating Perpetual Help, 64-54.

Jason Castro shot 16 points while 2004 rookie MVP Gabby Espinas came through with 12 points and 13 rebounds as the Dolphins notched their sixth win in eight outings for third.

It was the Altas’ sixth loss against two wins.