Arellano hands Letran first loss in 3 years

MANILA, Philippines — Down by nine points against heavy favorite Letran going into the final quarter, Arellano University coach Cholo Martin was asked by his veteran guard Shane Menina if they could go zone defense.

Good thing he listened.

With that key defensive adjustment, the Chiefs pulled off what others couldn’t do in the last three years as they shocked the high and mighty Knights, 72-69, to leapfrog to second in the 98th NCAA basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

AU outplayed and outscored the three-peat-seeking Letran in the final canto, 25-13, to turn a 56-47 deficit into the former’s third victory in four outings – good for No. 2 behind St. Benilde, which is unbeaten in two starts.

“I’m thankful to Shane Menina for telling me to go zone. We caught up after we made that change,” said Martin.

Interestingly, AU applied the same defensive ploy in a 61-59 triumph over University of Perpetual Help last Friday.

AU also dealt Letran its first setback since a 79-76 loss to San Beda in Game 2 of their title duel in 2019.

The Knights went on to beat the Lions in the deciding Game 3 to claim the crown then swept their way to a second title the next season three years later.

Letran appeared headed to preserve that long streak before that huge Arellano turnaround.

The Knights’ downfall was hastened by their horrendous outside shooting as they missed 23 of the 25 three-pointers they took while the Chiefs sank nine of 28.

In the other game, San Sebastian edged Mapua in a thriller, 57-56, to improve to 2-1. The Cardinals sputtered to 1-2.