Letran defeats San Beda to cop 2017 City Hoops Summer Classic championship
May 30, 2017 Tweet3493
Louis Montes sank in two free throws with six-tenths of a second left, helping Letran defeat San Beda – Alabang, 54 – 53, and win the 2017 City Hoops Summer Classic title in the 17 – Under division last May 28 at the Greenhills West court.
Letran led by as much as nine midway through the game but San Beda was relentless, keeping the game close until the dying seconds.
After Montes’ made charities, San Beda called its final timeout and was able to draw a foul on Letran’s Adrian Magada just before the buzzer sounded. However, San Beda botched the two freethrows and the title opportunity.
Mythical Five member Miguel Labrador carried Letran with his 29 points, which included a highlight alley-oop play from a no-look pass by Stacey Tibayan on a fastbreak. He also had seven rebounds.
Magada had nine points and nine rebounds while Montes, in addition to his game winning freethrows, ended with six points and the same number of boards.
Letran was able to forge a Finals match up with San Beda after ending the eliminations with a 4 – 2 record, the two losses coming from La Salle Greenhills and San Beda Alabang. The team edged San Sebastian in the knockout round, 84 – 71, then avenged its loss to La Salle with a win in the semifinals, 61 – 57.
Coached by RJ Guevarra, the Letran team was also composed of Greg de las Alas, Andrey Guarino, John Bergantinos, Dennis Lontok, Shawn Argente, Julian Culanay, Jayson de Guzman, Ralph Cauguiran, and Jhero Cerveza.
City Hoops is a league composed of several divisions that aimed to benefit the grassroots programs in the country. It was the first time for Letran to participate.
PHOTO | RJ Guevarra