Defending champion Letran used a strong fourth quarter assault to outlast Lyceum, 67-58, in the semifinals of the NCAA Season 98 men's basketball tournament and zoom to its third straight Finals appearance Tuesday, Nov. 29, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The three-peat seeking Knights arranged their Finals showdown against the top-seeded squad College of St. Benilde Blazers, who earlier survived with a 62-61 win against the San Beda Red Lions.
Brent Paraiso showed poise the entirety of the payoff period, calmly draining free throws in an affair that saw both teams getting foul-troubled.
Paraiso made up for his dismal shooting from the field and six turnovers and scored nine points built on five free throws along with five rebounds and three assists.
But it was Fran Yu who topscored for the Knights with 11 points to go with three rebounds while King Caralipio had a double-double performance of 10 points, 12 rebounds, and five rebounds.
Louie Sangalang, who was taken out of the game at the 2:23 mark of the payoff period due to an apparent injury on his left foot, also did damage on both ends of the floor with nine points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Down to the last three minutes, Letran maintained its composure and made the difference on the free throw line when Lyceum kept on splitting their own shots on the charity stripe.
Paraiso then scored five straight baskets en route to a commanding 10-point lead for the Knights with 1:03 left as the Pirates were left hurting with Shawn Umali getting fouled out in the earlier sequence.
Renzo Navarro, JM Bravo, and Enoch Valdez pumped life for Lyceum but they still trailed at 65-48 before their team captain also got fouled out in the ensuing play.
Paraiso put the nail in the coffin after an easy conversion inside the paint en route to a 67-58 cushion with 41.9 left.
Valdez, who paced Lyceum with 15 points and 11 rebounds, Bravo, and Vince Cunanan, given the time going down the drain, just couldn't find their scoring groove up to their last attempts as Letran moved to the Finals for the third straight season. Mclaude Guadana also posted 14 points and three rebounds.