MANILA — Two-time defending champion Letran recovered from a sluggish start and never looked back in routing San Sebastian, 69-50, Sunday and extending its winning ways to six games in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.

The San Sebastian Stags led, 15-12, in the opening period but the Knights, behind the heroics of Brent Paraiso, Mark Sangalang, and Tommy Olivario, came afire in the second period by knocking in 22 points that gave them a 34-28 edge at the half.

Ahead by nine after three quarters, Fran Yu scored five straight points in the first two minutes of the payoff period for Letran to build a 54-40 advantage.

Yu capped a scintillating fourth quarter with a three-pointer at the 2:56 mark that sparked Letran’s 7-0 run to pull away at 66-48.

Yu finished with 19 points, five rebounds, and two steals while Paraiso chipped in 13 points, four boards, and three assists for the Knights.

Letran became the first team to reach nine wins, moving in a virtual tie with College of Saint Benilde (8-2) for the lead.

The Stags, meanwhile, remained in the lower half of the standings with their ninth loss in 12 games.

No San Sebastian logged twin digits scoring, with Ken Villapando and rookie Rhinwill Yambing registering eight points apiece.

The scores:
Letran (69) — Yu 19, Paraiso 13, Sangalang 8, Reyson 8, Javillonar 7, Caralipio 6, Olivario 5, Guarino 2, Bojorcelo 1, Go 0, Santos 0, Tolentino 0, Monje 0, Miclat 0, Ariar 0.
SSC-R (50) — Villapando 8, Yambing 8, Are 6, Altamirano 6, Shanoda 5, Sumoda 4, Escobido 4, Aguilar 4, Una 2, Felebrico 2, Cosari 1, Suico 0, Paglinawan 0, Desoyo 0.
Quarterscores: 12-15, 34-28, 49-40, 69-50