Games today (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
3:15 p.m. – San Beda vs San Sebastian (Jrs)
5:30 p.m. – San Beda vs Letran (Srs)
MANILA, Philippines - October 20, 2012.
San Beda will remember this day – win or lose – for it will make or unmake history in two fronts for the school.
Never has there been a day where history has opened its arms for the taking by the Red Lions and the Red Cubs.
Consider:
A victory in the 88th NCAA seniors tournament will make the Lions the winningest with a record 17th crown and add a rare three three-peat as gravy.
And yet their juniors counterparts – the Cubs – could even go deeper into the league’s annals – a first-ever fourth straight championship and improve on its feat with a 20th crown.
Indeed, this could be the school’s red-letter day.
Still, the Lions and the Cubs remain wary of their respective rivals in their quest for glory with coach Ronnie Magsanoc stressing the need for hard work as they go for a sweep against Letran Knights in the 5:30 p.m. match.
“We’re not thinking about the three-peat or the 17th title,” said Magsanoc on the eve of Game Two of the best-of-three series. “Our expectations are simple, we just have to outwork them again because Letran is a very confident, well coached and very hungry team. We’re really clutching on straws.”
The Lions rallied from nine points down to beat the Knights, 62-60, last Thursday and move in the threshold of a third three-peat. Another win will enable San Beda to break from a tie with Letran in the most number of seniors titles won at 17.
Magsanoc is also hoping to join the elite roster of coaches, including former SBC mentor Frankie Lim and San Sebastian’s Ato Agustin, who won a championship in their maiden season.
Letran mentor Louie Alas, however, thinks the series is far from over.
“The hardest thing to do is to motivate the team from a loss but we will find ways to help them forget this one loss,” said Alas, who has steered the school to three championships seven years ago.
The Cubs, on the other hand, seek to likewise score a sweep against the San Sebastian Staglets for a first-ever four-peat and a 20th high school championship in the 3:15 p.m. match.
San Beda overwhelmed SSC, 69-51, in the opener of their own best-of-three series.
The league will also fete the season’s top individual performers with SSC’s Ian Sangalang bagging the coveted MVP award.
San Beda’s Baser Amer, meanwhile, hopes to nail the Finals MVP plum with another stellar performance after erupting for a game-high 20 points, including a 13-point splurge in the third quarter that turned the tide for the Lions in Game One.
The defending back-to-back champions are also expected to lean on their pressing defense that stymied the Knights’ playpatterns down the stretch. Their finest defensive moment came in the final 20 seconds when they forced Letran’s top gun Kevin Alas to the corner and into a turnover to seal the victory.
“We know they (Knights) are averaging 90 points in the second round so if we make this an offense vs offense series, I don’t think we could match up with them,” said Magsanoc. “We were also able to tire Kevin (Alas) in the second half and our defense really helped us to protect the lead.”
San Beda also found a gem in second-string shooter Ryusei Koga, who chipped in nine precious points, including a back-breaking triple that gave his team a five-point cushion with a little over a minute to go.
“Koga played exceptional minutes, sometimes he gets minutes sometimes he doesn’t but every time he does, he gives his best and I think that’s the kind of attitude that we are getting from him right now,” said Magsanoc.
Alas, meanwhile, rues over their failure to step up in the clutch.
“It was a heartbreaker seeing that our effort in 39 minutes got wasted by that last play but I know we can bounce back from this,” said Alas. “The good thing we learned from the last game, Mark Cruz looked for Kevin in that last play.
“I couldn’t blame him (Cruz), I will also look for my top gun in a crucial play like that,” he added.
The Knights are not only trying to prevent the Lions from overtaking them as the league’s most titled team but also hoping to put an end to a 15-game losing skein to the Mendiola-based school spanning five years.
Letran’s last victory over San Beda came in 2007 when Rey Guevarra dunked on Nigerian Sam Ekwe to eke out a come-from-behind 70-69 triumph.