By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights capped off its magical NCAA Season 98 campaign with a sweet championship title after taking down the College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Blazers, 81-67, in the do-or-die Game 3 last December 18, 2022.
When the going gets tough, the tough gets going indeed.
Despite the successive challenges Letran had to deal with in the entire championship series, the Knights showed their championship pedigree and went all out to capture their third-straight NCAA title.
The Knights had to go to battle in the pressure-packed deciding game without their Most Valuable Player (MVP) and leader Fran Yu who was slapped with a disqualification foul last Game 2 and had to serve a one-game suspension.
Yu’s absence wasn’t much of a factor as the back-to-back NCAA kings dominated on both ends of the floor and didn’t give Benilde any window of momentum from the get-go.
From a slim 27-24 advantage after the first 10 minutes of action, Letran had their best quarter in the second period and buried the Blazers alive after a momentum-clinching 24-9 offensive run that established an 18-point lead, 51-33.
The Knights had their biggest lead of the ball game and the entire championship series during that fiery second quarter by 21 points.
Benilde showed some adjustments in the second half and shot the ball better from the three-point area but Letran wanted it more and never ran out of firepower.
The Knights’ lead was never trimmed to a single digit and the closest gap they managed to keep with was 11 points.
“From the start, alam naman nating lahat na from the start, hirap na hirap kami, we had a depleted lineup. With the coaches, na solve naman natin kahit papano,” said Letran head coach Bonnie Tan.
King Caralipio led Letran into the game of their lives after dropping 20 points and 10 rebounds while winning the Finals MVP award.
Backstopping Caralipio was veteran and Rhenz Abando’s 1-2 punch Brent Paraiso who scored crucial baskets in the fourth period on his way to 16 big points.
“Palagi ko sinasabi na I’m proud of my players. Mula sa third stringers namin hanggang sa mga graduating players, proud ako kahit ano mangyari kahit manalo o matalo kami,” added Tan.
