by Kevin Estrada

They have waited six long years to play against each other on the biggest stage, but for both San Beda and Letran, it was all worth it Wednesday afternoon.

After the Red Lions took game one with a statement rout of the Knights at the Big Dome, the protagonists from both camps took turns to share their piece about the league’s most famous rivalry.

Before that, the men from Muralla won the most recent series in 2019, as Jerrick Balanza and Fran Yu teamed up to pull off the upset against Calvin Oftana, Evan Nelle and company who came from a regular season sweep.

For San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta, it was more than just a blessing to be part of this storied series.

“I’ve been part of a different rivalry, but this rivalry in the NCAA is different,” said the former Ateneo Blue Eagle who has fond playing memories against La Salle way back, in which he won his lone UAAP title back in 2008 against the Green Archers that had his former Red Cubs teammate JVee Casio leading the charge.

“It always brings out the best in you as a team, as an individual person, as a player and as a coach. You see what you are really made of, yung mga ganitong games.”

Guard Nygel Gonzales echoed his mentor’s thoughts, with the fact that he was no stranger to facing Letran since his high school days with Intramuros neighbors Mapúa.

“Kitang kita sa mga alumni and sa Bedan community kung gaano kaimportante ang Beda-Letran,” he later remarked. “For me we treat it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

On the other side of things, an apologetic Allen Ricardo thought he let the Letran crowd down with their performance especially after that third-quarter shutdown, and vowed his team to be better as they look to send the series into a Tuesday decider.

“On me, I admit this one. Ganun lang yung tiwala ko sa mga bata. And alam naman nila yun,” he admitted.

“Andaming Letranista na nagpunta dito and would like to apologize for that. But I take it this game, akin yun. Let’s just move forward.”