All hell broke loose in Game One of the NCAA seniors basketball finals as Colegio de San Juan de Letran drew first blood, repulsing arch rival San Beda College, 94-90, Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Graduating forward Kevin Racal and McJour Luib played the game of their lives, while Rey Nambatac and Mark Cruz overcame their physical limitations by playing big in the fourth quarter for their alma mater.
Racal, who is bound to play for the Alaska Aces in the Philippine Basketball Association, scored 14 of his career-high 28 points in the fourth quarter, spearheading a relentless, devil-may-care attack by the Knights.
IN PHOTOS: Letran snatches game one, gets a step closer to ending San Beda dynasty
Luib, a pass-first defensive guard, was the first one to get on fire for Letran, scoring 11 of his career-high 16 points in the first quarter.
Racal recalled in the post game interview that prior to the start of Season 91, he and his teammated thought that Letran can never make it to the finals, given their lack of a legitimate center.
He said that their newly-installed head coach Aldin Ayo scolded them, reminding his wards to never underestimate themselves.
“Where we are now, we worked hard for it,” Racal said in Filipino.
And the Knights did work hard to open their fourth finals meeting with the Red Lions in NCAA history.
Unfazed by the presence of the taller, meaner African centers Ola Adeogun and Donald Tankoua, the Letran frontline resorted to gang rebounding, which they have perfected throughout the season.
Unlike San Beda’s more structured 2-2-1 press, Letran played an opportunistic type of fullcourt press anchored on their speedier guards, resulting in stealing Beda’s possessions 15 times.
Letran likewise never hesitated in shooting the three-point shot, missing only two of seven triples in the fourth quarter.
The result bore fruit, with four players scoring in double digits and three players dishing out five assists each.
Ironically for Letran, the 5’5” Cruz emerged as their top rebounder, finishing with seven boards.
For Ayo, the celebration must not start yet for the Letran community, and that they must beat San Beda in two games.
“At the back of my mind, there is still game two. We will celebrate this win but we are going to start to practice tomorrow. All of this will come to naught if we don’t win game two,” Ayo said.
San Beda, for their part, relied heavily on the graduating Adeogun, who finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds on top of a perfect 9-of-9 shooting from the free throw line.
The other players had minimal contributions, with Ryusei Koga and Roldan Sara adding 10 points each.
Baser Amer and Arthur de la Cruz, cornerstones of their past three titles, were silent with only eight and seven points, respectively.
While Letran led by only slim margins for majority of the game, San Beda would take the driver seat at times but the Knights would retaliate in an instant.
From the last minute of the third quarter to the five minute mark of the fourth quarter, both squads kept the crowd roaring as they exchanged triples in succession, with Letran sinking six and San Beda firing four.
With the game knotted at 85 in the last two minutes, Racal ultimately provided the much needed cushion for Letran, scoring four straight points off two free throws and a putback from his own missed layup.
Down by five, 87-92, with 14 seconds left, the Red Lions came close, 90-92, with a quick three from Sara.
With ten seconds left, a quick foul from San Beda could have given them ample time to catch up but Nambatac fooled their defense, attacking the basket off the inbound pass and scoring on a baseline drive by eluding Amer’s defense with a pirouette move to seal the game.
All is not lost though for the five-time defending champion, as game two is set on Tuesday, October 27, at the Mall of Asia Arena.
IN PHOTOS: Letran snatches game one, gets a step closer to ending San Beda dynasty
