#NCAAASeason95Finals: Letran dethrones San Beda to reclaim title in the series finale

Letran completed the biggest upset of the decade in college basketball after dethroning San Beda as the NCAA Men's Basketball Champions after a pulsating 81-79 thriller in the third and final game of their Season 95 Finals Tuesday evening at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Rendering their regular season sweep of the Red Lions useless with their victory in Game 1, the Knights foiled the last-ditch stand of the Red Lions to annex their 18th title in the oldest collegiate league, bringing back the crown back to Muralla for the first time since 2015 where the series also went to the distance against their arch-nemesis.

Playing in his final game, senior forward Jerrick Balanza fittingly ended his college career the way he started it as he carried the load for Letran by leading all scorers with 27 points on a 47% shooting clip, including 5/9 from downtown as he come off the bench to give neophyte mentor Bonnie Tan his maiden crown.

Overall, the Knights outscored the entire second unit of San Beda 48-6 which became a huge key to their win.

The King Knight saved his last triple for the best when he fired the long bomb to give them a 79-73 lead in the final 1:29 of the contest.

Backstopping Balanza was junior transfer Edson Batiller, who torched San Beda in the first quarter by scoring 10 points there en route to 19 points.

Despite the cramps that limited him to just 8 points in the entire game, Fran Yu got the Finals MVP nod after averaging 13.7 points, 6 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 2 steals for the series which was highlighted by his heroics in game 2 and his game-sealing free throws with 15.9 ticks remaining to give them a five-point breathing room.

San Beda were led by Donald Tankoua's 22 points and 7 rebounds in his swan song in the NCAA, with Calvin Oftana backstopping the Cameroonian with 18 points and 8 rebounds.

Evan Nelle's 11 markers included the two triples in the final 90 seconds to keep the Red Lions afloat, but was foiled by Balanza in the final play to spark wild celebrations in the blue half of the arena.

The scores:

Letran 81 - Balanza 27, Batiller 19, Ular 9, Yu 8, Muyang 6, Mina 6, Caralipio 4, Ambohot 2, Balagasay 0, Olivario 0, Javillonar 0, Sangalang 0.

San Beda 79 - Tankoua 22, Oftana 18, Canlas 11, Nelle 11, Doliguez 11, Carino 3, Soberano 3, Bahio 0, Abuda 0, Visser 0.

Quarter scores: 26-24, 44-38, 69-59, 81-79.