The San Beda Red Lions shot the lights out at the jam-packed Araneta Coliseum with their triples to score an 83-71 win over the Letran Knights, taking Game 2, and sweeping their best-of-three finals series on Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum.
Yukien Andrada and finals MVP John Bryan Sajonia connected with 21 points each for the Red Lions, who played a focused game and made league history with their 24th crown in the 101st National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament.
Twelve of 32 three-point attempts fell through as the Red Lions hurt Letran’s interior defense with their outside shooting.
Coach Yuri Escueta dedicated the title win to his former mentor Edmundo “Ato” Badolato, one of the winning coaches in the junior level, for the inspiration.
“I dedicate this championship to God and to coach Ato. Coach Ato was always in my mind. I asked his sister if he was watching in heaven today. So to coach Ato, this one is for you,” said coach Yuri Escueta as the Red Lions crowned themselves champions again after two years.
Escueta played under Badolato’s guidance as one of his prized players, when he was in high school. He learned coaching from him when he played at the collegiate level as well.
It was Escueta’s second collegiate title, after the Red Lions won over the Mapua Cardinals in the Season 99 finals.
Red and white confetti rained, and fans whooped it after the Red Lions overcame the challenge playing without one key player, following the one-game suspension of Fil-Am rookie Adjanti Miller.
Miller was suspended after incurring two technical fouls when the Red Lions outhustled, outrebounded, and limited the Letran Knights to five points in the third quarter, for an 89-70 win in Game 1 last Wednesday.
“Hats off to Yuki and Bryan for their great game. I remembered the time when we did not make the finals last year, and lost it to Benilde, Yuki promised to return for another season, and I promised that I will try to make it possible for him that we will win the title,” added Escueta, in commending Andrada’s Game 2 performance.
The Mendiola dribblers drained six triples in the third, with Andrada sinking three of them to move away from a 39-all deadlock into a 54-45 edge, going in to the last 5:11 of the period.
Sajonia unloaded the game’s final trey in the 1:57 mark of the fourth, allowing the Red Lions to get enough cushion to win the contest, 76-69.
Since returning to the NCAA, following a two-year absence in 1986, the Red Lions have won multiple championships.
This included a historic five-peat (2010-2014), three more titles (2016-2018), and another in Season 99 (2023), and their latest achievements makes them one of the most decorated squads in league history.
Earlier, the Letran Squires leaned on the heroics of Nathan Egea, Travis Pascual and Alvin Villanueva to push them to a 91-88 overtime beating of the Arellano Braves for the junior division honors.
Justin Cargo shot a game-high 14 points and had 14 boards for the Squires in securing their 15th crown.
Alvin Villanueva knocked in 13, including the Squires’ winning split charity with 15 ticks to go.
Meanwhile, College of St. Benilde’s Allen Liwag, now in Thailand for the Southeast Asian Games, with Gilas Pilipinas, was hailed as Season 101’s best player after averaging 15.71 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2 assists.
It was Liwag’s second straight MVP award, and was among the five best players for the season, the others being Letran’s Kevin Santos and Titing Manalili, San Beda’s Janti Miller and San Sebastian’s Jhuniel Dela Rama.
