Champions again or champions at last? Lions, Knights go for kill

Games Thursday

(MOA Arena, Pasay City)

2 p.m. – San Beda vs Arellano (jrs)

4 p.m. – San Beda vs Letran (srs)

MANILA, Philippines – Fittingly, one of college basketball's biggest rivalries boils down to one game.

San Beda and Letran go at it one final time Friday with the former eyeing to extend its reign and the latter seeking to end its decade-long title chase in the 91st NCAA basketball tournament an expected record crowd at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.

The Knights seized the series opener, 94-90, Friday while the Lions rebounded with a 68-61 victory in Game Two Tuesday, forcing the decider set at 4 p.m. that could go down as another classic.

"Every basketball player and coach should experience a rubber match so this series going to a Game Three is a gift to every basketball-loving person here today, whether you're from San Beda or Letran or just a pure basketball fan," said San Beda coach Jamike Jarin.

"And it doesn't get any better than this because this rubbermatch is historic," he added.

San Beda abandoned its running game and went to its strength, pounding the ball inside for various one-on-one plays anchored on Ola Adeogun and sophomore Jayvee Mocon. Arthur dela Cruz and Baser Amer also made up for lethargic Game One efforts with bounce-back games in Game Two.

"They didn't run their offense in Game Two anymore. They're going to their talent and strength, which is straight post up," said Ayo. "In every game, he (Jarin) is doing something new.

"Sometimes, they are doing things that we were not prepared against. That's the style of Jamike and I give him credit for that," he added.

San Beda and Letran have long been rivals for decades and are considered the most titled teams in the league today with a combined 35 championships, 19 of which owned by the Lions.

San Beda has lorded it over the league for a decade, making the finals in all those years and winning five straight crowns and eight of the last nine while Letran should be all out to win its first title since going all the way 11 years ago.

The Knights were close to ending the chase when they pulled off a shock Game One win to enter Game Two, which was attended by 17,588 paying patrons, one win away from accomplishing it.

Now they will settle it in a do-or-die game that should go down as an epic showdown.

"It's going to be one heck of a game from start to finish, it's going to be a classic one," said Jarin.

"In terms of effort, it's a classic. But I can assure you it's not going to be pretty because I can see my players to kill themselves to get the title, I can see it in their eyes," said Ayo.

The Knights won the opener by forcing the Lions to turn the ball over 29 times resulting to 25 points off it.

They did the same in Game Two as the reigning five-peat feat champions committed 32 errors that the Muralla-based dribblers converted into 25 points.

But Letran couldn't find its shots to fall and missed 59 of its 83 attempts for a miserable 29 percent.

San Beda, in contrast, attempted only 48 and connected on 27.

"We had good lucks. We missed shots we usually make," said Ayo.

It didn't help they also couldn't make their foul shots after they missed eight critical ones including six by Rey Nambatac, who was held to his first scoreless game since his rookie season two years ago.

"Once you missed a free throw, you can't blame anyone or anything but your focus. Even if you're not a regular player and you have a bad form, you can still make a free throw if you just focus. It's really all mental," said Ayo.

"It's one of those days. Rey showed great effort in defense but he just couldn't contribute on offense," he added.

Ayo said he feels confident going into Game Three.

"We lost but I'm very optimistic coming into Game Three because of our effort," he said.