San Beda, Letran face off in sudden death

By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

This one is for all the marbles, the two remaining teams in the NCAA will face off for one final game.

With many not expecting them to reach the finals, the Letran Knights shocked the entire basketball community not only by upsetting the powerhouse Lyceum Pirates in the semis, but also taking a game in the finals against the Goliath of the NCAA, the San Beda Red Lions.

Breakout star Fran Yu of Letran delivered when it mattered the most, knocking down dagger threes in the clutch and providing much-needed stops.

However, the mighty Red Lions got back at Letran in game two, where MVP Calvin Oftana proved why he was crowned as best player of the league.

Oftana buried the game-winning coast to coast layup that put them ahead of Letran, 77-76, in the last 25 seconds of the ball game.

Ilonggo star Clint Doliguez was also a revelation in the finals as he sank multiple triples during game 2 and was always trigger-ready.

During the first two games, both teams exchanged leads multiple times with neither team managing to establish a big lead.

Surprisingly, Letran was able to keep both games competitive despite San Beda averaging double digit leads in their wins against opponents. Letran managed to negate San Beda’s Donald Tankoua by being scrappy and showing grit in every possession.

With one game left, head coaches Bonnie Tan of Letran and Boyet Fernandez of Beda will again try to adjust and draw schemes to help team win the championship.

Will it be Letran or San Beda?