San Beda overwhelms Letran, moves a win away from NCAA 101 title

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

The San Beda Red Lions are one win away from capturing the NCAA Season 101 Senior Men’s Basketball championship title after demolishing the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights, 89-70, in Game 1 of the grand finals series on Dec. 10, 2025, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Entering the championship series with a redemption mindset, San Beda didn’t need any warmups to catch Letran off guard as it immediately built a commanding 22-9 start, bolstered by the two-way efficiency of Nygel Gonzales and Ilonggo scorer John Bryan Sajonia.

The Knights finally had it going when they converted baskets on the fast break to trim their deficit to a single digit, but RC Calimag’s quick counter put San Beda ahead by 10 points, 29-19, heading to the second frame.

In an interesting momentum shift in the second quarter, the Knights found themselves in a groove after their game plan of putting the Red Lions in foul trouble proved successful.

With still seven minutes left to play in the second period, San Beda had already reached its foul limit, putting Letran on the charity stripe every time a foul was called.

That changed the complexion of the ballgame as the Knights met little resistance from a cautious San Beda frontcourt defense, scoring baskets in the paint at will that helped them reach striking distance at the end of the half, 46-43.

As expected, the start of the second half became a physical encounter as neither team made a field goal until Penny Estacio sank a layup that broke the deadlock, which lasted for almost 2:30.

Unfortunately for the Knights, they failed to pick up where they left off after a dominant second-quarter rally, hampered by a clever defensive adjustment from San Beda head coach Yuri Escueta.

The chief tactician tweaked his defensive schemes throughout the second half, opting to move from a soft man-to-man defense to a mixed zone, forcing Letran to operate its offense from the top of the key.

As part of the defensive overhaul, the Red Lions were able to neutralize Jonathan Manalili’s ability to survey the court, as his corner shooters were all locked up and easily defended by San Beda’s help from the baseline.

It was effectively over when San Beda dropped a barrage of huge three-pointers midway through the fourth, making it difficult for the Knights to replicate their come-from-behind semifinal win over Perpetual Help.

Pacing the Red Lions was Janti Miller, who stuffed the stat sheet with an all-around performance of 16 points, nine rebounds and two assists.

Backstopping the combo guard was Gonzales, who capped off his Game 1 mastery with 14 markers and five assists.

On the other hand, top Rookie of the Year candidate Manalili still produced his usual numbers for Letran—17 points, five assists and four steals—but fouled out of the game with 5:20 remaining in the final canto.

Can the Red Lions close out the series in Game 2, or will the battle-tested Letran bounce back and force a do-or-die Game 3 in the NCAA Finals?

Stay tuned when the classic San Beda–Letran rivalry returns on Dec. 13, 2025, for Game 2 of the NCAA Season 101 grand finals.