Fancied Knights test hot Blazers for lead

Letran tests College of St. Benilde’s mettle as the Knights take on the pacesetting Blazers in the 84th NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Astrodome in Pasay City.

Out to improve their last place finish last season, the Blazers hurdled their first two assignments – the Philippine Christian U Dolphins and the Perpetual Help Altas – to emerge the surprise solo leaders in the early going of the elims.

“We’re not going to get confident especially against strong teams like Letran,” said St. Benilde coach Gie Abanilla.

The Blazers will indeed need to double their effort against the Knights, runners-up last year, who opened their campaign with an emphatic 83-69 rout of the Jose Rizal Bombers last Saturday at the Big Dome.

“It will be a close match because both of us have similar defensive styles, we both use match-up defense,” Letran mentor Louis Alas said.

The Blazers actually go into the game oozing with confidence as they pulled one over the Knights in one of the pre-season tournaments last summer.

“We defeated them in one pre-season tournament and they were surprised we played that good,” said Abanilla. “But the pre-season is way different from the NCAA.”

Winless Jose Rizal (0-1) and San Sebastian (0-2), meanwhile, try to barge into the win column as they collide at 4 p.m.