THE San Beda Red Lions trailed the Letran Knights in the standings virtually all season long.
They caught the Knights at the tail end of the eliminations just before the Final Four playoffs of the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament.
The two teams continue a storied rivalry when Game 1 begins at 4 p.m. today at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Earlier, the defending champion San Beda Red Cubs will clash with the Arellano Braves at 2 p.m. in Game 1 of the junior finals.
The Red Cubs wield a thrice-to-beat incentive after they earned an automatic finals berth with their 18-game sweep of the eliminations.
“We have been chasing them the entire season. They’re the first to get into the finals this year, We are still chasing them. So, its going to be an interesting finals,” said Red Lions coach Jamike Jarin.
The Red Lions boasts of a deep bench, which Jarin and the coaching staff developed the entire season when he let his entire roster enjoy quality minutes on the floor.
It paid off last Tuesday when the Red Lions came away with a 78-68 beating of the Jose Rizal University Heavy Bombers during their Final Four encounter.
In this game, Roldan Sara and Baser Amer tallied 11 points while AC Soberano adding 10 points, and Donald Tankoua added a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
They were behind for the most part of the game, before the Red Lions finally took charge, 56-53, coming into the fourth period.
By then, it was the second stringers who finished the job.
Tankoua showed the way the Red Lions in the last 10 minutes, scoring seven in place of Ola Adeogun who just rested in the fourth on the bench.
The reserve players scored a total 50 points for the Red Lions.
This is their third finals showdown in four years against Letran. The Red Lions took 2012 and 2013 championships at the Knights expense.
Coach Aldin Ayo said he is glad the Knights are in the finals, considering that they were labelled as underdogs from the start.
“The whole season, minamaliit kami. I told the boys that they have to process it and make that as a motivation. That’s exactly what we did in this game,” said Ayo.
The Knights will again bank on four reliables, Mark Cruz, Kevin Racal, Rey Nambatac and McJour Luib to carry the fight for them, and get them the championship.
When they got past Mapua, 91-90, last Tuesday in the Final Four, Cruz hit 24 points as the Knights, including one which handed Letran an 87-83 lead with 1:31 left in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Racal converted two free throws on the next play for a 90-85 lead with 31 seconds left.
“Nobody expected us to be here,” said Ayo.
Ayo said that this is not the time to celebrate now that they’re in the finals.
“We still have a job to do,” said Ayo when he talked to the team after the game.
Games Today
(Game 1 at the MOA Arena)
2 p.m. San Beda vs Arellano (jrs)
4 p.m. San Beda vs Letran (srs)