Knights, Stags figure in knockout semis

Games today (Cuneta Astrodome) 10 a.m. – San Beda vs La Salle-Greenhills (jrs) 1 p.m. – LPU vs San Sebastian (jrs) 4 p.m. – Letran vs San Sebastian (srs)

Letran and San Sebastian try to keep their title hopes alive as they collide today at the start of the stepladder semifinals of the 95th NCAA basketball tournament at the Cuneta Astrodome.

The Knights and the Stags finished third and fourth with a 12-6 and an 11-7 record, respectively, after the double-round elimination. The winner in their 4 p.m. showdown will face the Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates, who took the No. 2 seed with a 13-5 slate, on Friday.

San Beda, the reigning three-peat champion, swept the elims in 18 games and went straight to the best-ofthree finals which kicks off on Nov. 12 at the MOAArena.

Letran coach Bonnie Tan is expected to rely on size and defense, the formula they used in beating San Sebastian, 99-82, in the second round and levelling their head-to-head duel this season at one game apiece.

“We were able to maximize our inside strength when we beat them in the second round and we will need to do that again and maybe double our efforts this time since this is the semifinals already,” said the Letran coach, who drew strong efforts from big men

Larry Muyang, Jeo Ambohot and Ato Ular the last time they played the Stags.

San Sebastian, meanwhile, will ride on the shoulders of the high-scoring tandem of Allyn Bulanadi and RK Ilagan, who accounted for almost half of their team’s per-game scoring average of 81.2 points by norming a combined 35 per outing.

For Bulanadi, a strong MVP candidate after averaging a league best 20.3 points in 18 outings, he wants to finish his college career with a bang.

“My focus is to help my team win the championship before I graduate. The MVP award will just be a bonus, if it happens,” said Bulanadi.