Kurt Reyson buries game-winner as Letran nips Perpetual in D-League clash

Kurt Reyson saved the day as Wangs Basketball @27 Strikers-Letran kept its top-two hopes alive with a 62-61 squeaker against University of Perpetual Help System Dalta in the 2023 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup Tuesday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan.

The veteran guard drilled a crucial layup off the glass in the final seven seconds before Cyrus Nitura missed a potential game-winning basket for the ALTAs to give the Knights the narrow victory.

Letran improved to 3-2 ahead of an all-important clash against defending champion EcoOil-La Salle (4-1) on Thursday with both teams looking to book the second seed and the final outright semifinals ticket.

Perpetual, on the other hand, dropped to an even 3-3 card.

“May pag-asa pa sa semis. Ginusto ng mga bata na manalo this game para sa tsansa na ‘yun. They worked hard for this,” said coach Rensy Bajar.

“In the end, our veteran players lead us to this win. Isa doon, si Reyson. Reyson is a born-winner. He’s our leader. Kumbaga, binigay na namin sa kanya at luckily, na-shoot niya sa huli.”

Team captain Reyson poured in 13 points off the bench together with six rebounds, three assists, and three steals while Kobe Monje chipped in 15 markers, eight boards, one steal, and a block.

Pao Javillonar and Kint Ariar each chimed in with 10 points.

The scores:

Wangs Strikers-Letran 62 – Monje 15, Reyson 13, Ariar 10, Javillonar 10, Fajardo 4, Santos 4, Alarcon 3, Tolentino 2, Cuajao 1, Go 0, Guarino 0.

Perpetual 61 – Roque 12, Nitura 11, Boral 8, Pagaran 7, Razon 6, Abis 6, Ferreras 5, Nunez 2, Ramirez 2, Barcoma 2, Movida 0.

Quarterscores: 11-20, 29-39, 48-49, 62-61.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News