MANILA, Philippines — Rhenz Abando came through with another MVP performance as Letran survived San Sebastian, 73-69, yesterday to clinch a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four in the 97th NCAA basketball tournament at the La Salle Greenhills Gym.
Abando did almost everything with 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block to power the Knights to their eighth straight victory and closer to sweeping the elimination round.
“We were nervous about San Sebastian (3-6) because we knew they will really grind out to get the win,” said the University of Santo Tomas transferee.
Earlier, James Kwekuteye buried a crucial three-pointer as San Beda survived a pesky College of St. Benilde, 67-63, to close in on the other twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.
San Beda moved up to 7-1 while CSB fell to 5-4.