#NCAASeason95Finals: Letran snaps San Beda's record streak to draw first blood

18…and ONE.

Right where it mattered the most, Letran dealt San Beda its very first loss of the NCAA Season 95, and it happened in Game 1 of the Finals with a 65-64 squeaker Tuesday afternoon at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Grinding out the way they made out of the stepladder format after the three-time defending champions booked their place in the title series, the Knights of coach Bonnie Tan stunned the Red Lions in the grandest stage to draw first blood, thanks to the solid contributions by the dynamic duo of Bonbon Batiller and Fran Yu.

The pair of transfers from UE did the biggest damage against San Beda, with Batiller leading Letran with 12 points, while Yu added 10 points and 3 rebounds, but none bigger than their heads up play in the final 2.4 seconds when they stifled the defending champions’ final offensive drive.

Guard Evan Nelle led all scorers with 20 points for San Beda, but they shot themselves in the foot from beyond the arc as they shot an atrocious 15% that caused their downfall. Moreover, the league’s top assist man Nelle was limited to just one in the entire game.

Backstopping the former Red Cub was James Canlas and newly-minted MVP Calvin Oftana who each had 11.

Trailing in the first half, Letran went to work in the third where they clamped down San Beda’s production, limiting them to just a dozen points to overturn a four-point deficit to lead by three at the end of the third.

That set the final fourth quarter wherein both teams exchanged shots and stops, but it was the Knights who held firm down the stretch.

Down four in the later half of the payoff period, Yu and skipper Jerrick Balanza fired back-to-back jacks from downtown to take the lead for good as the former dropped the alley-oop dime to Larry Muyang to make it 65-62 with 1:28 remaining.

Not to be driven into the sunset, Nelle drove to make it a one-point game, before forcing a shotclock violation that gave them one final chance with 12.2 ticks to go.

However, Oftana missed his last shot from beyond the arc, and Batiller tipped the ball to Yu for the final rebound, intentionally missing both his free throws to seal the win.

The loss ended San Beda's record 32-game winning streak in the NCAA dating since last season.

The scores:

Letran 65 -- Batiller 12, Balanza 10, Yu 10, Ambohot 9, Muyang 7, Reyson 7, Mina 3, Ular 3, Caralipio 2, Sangalang 2, Balagasay 0, Olivario 0.

San Beda 64 -- Nelle 20, Canlas 11, Oftana 11, Tankoua 7, Soberano 6, Bahio 4, Doliguez 3, Etrata 2, Abuda 0, Cuntapay 0, Alfaro 0.

Quarter scores: 17-18, 28-32, 47-44, 65-64.

Photo by RedEye Photography