Gallant Knights shine through in Game One

Games Tuesday (MOA Arena, Pasay)

2 p.m. – San Beda vs Arellano U (jrs)

4 p.m. – San Beda vs Letran (srs)

MANILA, Philippines – It was the night of Letran’s brave Knights.

They held their own in an emotion-filled, seesawing contest with the favored reigning champion San Beda Red Lions and pulled off a morale-boosting 94-90 victory in the NCAA men’s basketball finals before a capacity crowd at the MOA Arena yesterday.

The Knights matched the Lions’ firepower with their own explosive offense – trey-for-trey, clutch hits for clutch hits – and in the one that counted most – heart-for-heart – and took Game One in their best-of-three championship series.

It was one title playoff opener to die for as neither team led by no more than four points in the closing minutes and the match hanging in the balance until Kevin Racal capped his game-long heroics with a putback of his own crucial miss that made it 89-85. He finished in a career-high 28 points, hacked out under grinding pressure of a championship match.

And then Rey Nambatac, who forms the core of the Knights’ first unit together with Racal and Mark Cruz, sealed the victory with a textbook spin off San Beda’s pro-bound Baser Amer in the last 10 seconds and scored an unchallenged drive as the Knights moved a win away from nailing their first championship in 10 years.

The Knights also drew inspiration from boxing icon Manny Pacquiao, who made his first ever appearance for the Knights as team manager and gave a pep talk to the Knights before the game.

“Pangalan pa lang motivation na (His name is already a motivation),” said Letran coach Aldin Ayo of Pacquiao. “When he entered the dugout, I saw the faces of the boys and they felt elated seeing him.”

Racal, eyeing nothing less than a championship on his fifth and last year, exploded with a season-high 28 points, including 14 in the final period when Letran outplayed and outgunned San Beda in a virtual shootout.

“Mark (Cruz) and I are on our last season and we decided to just do what’s right and help each other to get this win,” said Racal.

Cruz and Rey Nambatac combined for 35 points, including 16 in the last 10 minutes then later cited the impact of Pacquiao’s presence.

“He (Pacquiao) is a big impact to the team, he boosted our confidence and we got energy just seeing him on our side,” said Cruz.

Letran battled San Beda in a three-point shooting game in the fourth as they combined for 11 triples. But Racal and the Knights hit the biggest baskets at endgame and made key stops to foil the Red Lions.

Amer and Arthur dela Cruz were held to a combined 15-point output as they flubbed 11 of their combined 16 shots, leaving the scoring load to Nigerian teammate Ola Adeogun.

Adeogun finished with team-highs 23 points and 16 boards but made six turnovers, including one in the stretch when – with San Beda just down by three – he opted to bring down the ball, only to waver before losing possession in the face of the Knights’ pressing defense.

San Beda mentor Jamike Jarin took the blame for his team’s defeat.

“I coached bad today (yesterday), it’s my fault. All aspects. I failed to prepare them against Letran,” he said.

The Lions turned the ball over 29 times which the Knights translated to 25 points.

“We had too many turnovers, we need to take care of the ball,” said Jarin.

Earlier, the San Beda Cubs outgunned the Arellano U Braves in the second half and hacked out a 76-68 victory to move closer to sweeping their way to a seventh straight high school championship and 22nd overall. 

Evan Nelle led San Beda with 16 points including six in the third quarter when it pulled away from the Braves.

The scores

Letran 94 – Racal 28, Nambatac 18, Cruz 17, Luib 16, Sollano 9, Quinto 4, Balagasay 2, Apreku 0, Balanza 0, Calvo 0

San Beda 90 – Adeogun 23, Koga 10, Sara 10, Soberano 9, Amer 8, Tankoua 8, dela Cruz 7, Tongco 5, Mocon 4, Sorela 4, Presbiterio 2, Cabanag 0, Reyes 0, Bonsubre 0, Sedillo 0

Quarterscores: 22-21; 39-41; 61-62; 94-90