NCAA: Letran forces game three versus San Beda for the championship

(Update 2, 5:44pm) The Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights live to ride another day.

The Knights, like in last season’s NCAA Finals series, forced a winner-take all game three, with a 79-74 win over the defending champions San Beda College Red Lions, Thursday at the MOA Arena.

Mark Cruz Cruz was still nursing a sprained right thumb he injured in game one, but still top-scored for the Knights with 16 points, including 10 points in the final period. "Kailangan kong mag adjust, it's the finals. I need to work," he shrugged.

Ford Ruaya, Kevin Racal and Raymond Almazan all had a dozen markers each, with Racal and Almazan adding 10 and eight boards, respectively.

Letran head coach Caloy Garcia said his players' demeanor in approaching the game made a big difference, as the Knights played aggressively on both ends of the floor for all 40 minutes. After a fourth quarter collapse in the series opener, Garcia said his squad handled the pressure better this time around. "We were just lucky in the fourth quater na bumalik tad yung nangyari samin," he said. "Yung problema namin nung game one we were too tentative. Sabi ko sa kanila, "Pwede naman kayong mag-focus nang nakangiti."

He also praised his team's effort, especially during a crucial stretch in the third when Cruz had to be benched, owing to four personal fouls. On the other hand, he credited the win to limiting opposing center Ola Adeogun to just two field goals, which severely impacted San Beda. "They [San Beda] need Ola to win the game. Sa amin, when Mark stepped out, someone else stepped up," he said.

During the Season 88 Finals in 2012, San Beda won game one, 62-60, with Letran equalizing 64-55 in game two, before the Red Lions won a third straight title via a dominant 67-39 showing.

This year, San Beda won game one handily, 80-68, putting history on their side. The Red Lions have gone on to win six championships after winning the first game of the series since 2006. In the same period, San Beda has a 2-1 record in game three of the Finals, trumping the JRU Heavy Bombers in 2008 and as previously mentioned, Letran last season. The last time they lost a game three was in 2009 versus the San Sebastian College Stags.

The Knights had the advantage after the opening tip, stringing together several defensive stops against the Lions before running on the break. Four minutes into the game, 2013 third overall PBA draft pick Raymond Almazan already had six points, forcing San Beda to call an early timeout, 10-4.

Dan Sara buried the Lions' second trey of the game, and sparked an up-tempo back-and-forth exchange between both teams. Art Dela Cruz facilitated the Lions' halfcourt offense, though it was not enough against the Knights' intermittent transition hits. At the end of the first quarter, Letran held a 20-17 lead.

Helped by a smattering of offensive rebounds, the Semerad twins nailed jumpers for the reserve unit, to push San Beda to a 26-25 edge early in the second period. However, the offense dissipated when the Lions' starters returned to play. In contrast, Ford Ruaya led the Knights' incursions in the lane, 32-27.

However in the last two minutes, a pair of controversial calls allowed the Red Lions to catch up. Kevin Racal was called for an unsportsmanlike foul after making contact with Ola Adeogun, and the center split his charities. Moments after Adeogun hit two more free throws, the referees hit Letran head coach Caloy Garcia with a technical foul for continuous complaining. Baser Amer took the free throws and split them as well. Dela Cruz then closed out the half with back-to-back triples to catapult the Red Lions to a 37-32 lead after two quarters.

By halftime, Dela Cruz tallied 13 points and seven rebounds. His two three-pointers were San Beda's only baskets in the last six minutes of the half, as the team shot just 13-of-36 (36 percent). The Knights shot 15-of-33 (45 percent), but made just one of five free throws. Meanwhile, the Red Lions converted 50 percent of their 12 attempted charities.

Letran led 13-5 in turnover points off a 13-8 turnover spread, but conceded the rebounding battle to San Beda, 27-13, including 11-2 offensive.

After the break, Letran made up ground and quickly hit San Beda with a 13-2 blast, highlighted by triples from Almazan and Von Tambeling. Despite Mark Cruz sitting after getting tagged with his fourth personal foul, the Knights reclaimed a 45-39 lead.

At 4:19, a Rome Dela Rosa basket gave San Beda their second field goal of the half with a fast break hoop. But the Red Lions were unable to keep Letran out of the lane, as Rey Nambatac and company helped stretch their lead to as much as seven, 52-45. But similar to the previous quarter, Dela Cruz splashed a pair of much-needed treys in the final minute, slashing their deficit to 54-51 after three quarters.

Cruz made up for lost time, scoring six of Letran's first 10 markers in the fourth period to counter Amer probing the lane for points. The Knights ran San Beda off the court, and fouled out Rome Dela Rosa in the process, to stake a 64-58 advantage.

The Red Lions were smothered by Letran's defense and were unable to get touches inside. Dela Cruz and David Semerad converted tough shots to equalize the tally at 64-64, but the resilient Knights connected mostly inside for eight unanswered with three minutes left to play, 72-64.

San Beda resorted to sending the Knights to the line via hard fouls, but Letran was steady from the charity stripe while Amer and Abarcar trimmed the deficit to five, 76-71. But the Knights' defense held its ground, bullying San Beda for stops or desperation long-balls.

Nambatac split his charities to make it a six-point game with 20 ticks left. San Beda advanced the ball via a timeout to Adeogun, who hit an improbable triple with 17.2 seconds left, 77-74. Letran called for time as well and took seven seconds off the clock before Cruz was fouled and sent to the line. The point guard converted both to settle the final score.

Letran shot 29-of-61 (48 percent) from the floor, while San Beda made 28-of-74 (38 percent). The Red Lions led 50-33 in rebounding (including 20-3 offensive) but only had a 4-0 advantage in second-chance points. "We were just lucky," said Garcia.

The Knights dominated the free throw line as well, converting most of their 18-of-27 (67 percent) in the second half against the Red Lions' 9-of-16 (56 percent). Letran led 18-9 in turnover points off a 14-21 turnover advantage.

Art Dela Cruz led all scorers with 24 points and 12 rebounds, including making 4-of-9 three-pointers. Rome Dela Rosa and Ola Adeogun added 10 points each, with the latter hauling 13 rebounds. Baser Amer managed just eight points and six assists, and struggled with a 3-of-21 clip from the field.

Game three, which will take place on Saturday, is also at the MOA Arena.

Earlier in the day, San Beda's younger counterparts, the Red Cubs, clinched a fifth straight title by toppling the La Salle Greenhills Greenies, 65-59. The team, which enjoyed a thrice-to-beat advantage, became the first in NCAA history to complete a 20-0 sweep of the Juniors division tourney.

Forward Arvin Tolentino was named Finals MVP with averages of 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.0 steals. Red Cubs mentor JB Sison was named Coach of the Year. - AMD, GMA News


The scores:

CSJL 79: Cruz 16, Ruaya 12, Racal 12, Almazan 12, Tambeling 8, Luib 6, Nambatac 6, Gabawan 5, Belorio 2, Buenaflor 0

SBC 74: Dela Cruz 23, Adeogun 10, Dela Rosa 10, Amer 8, D Semerad 8, A Semerad 6, Abarcar 4, Sara 3, Ludovice 2, Mendoza 0, Pascual 0

Quarter scoring: 20-17, 32-37, 54-51, 79-74