20 August 2018
By Angelli Ojastro
In every basketball league or any sports in that matter, a rivalry is always present. A rivalry that have benchmarked their games to be battles that anyone can’t miss. For the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the Philippines, it is the San Beda-Letran rivalry.
If you’re an avid follower of NCAA, it’s definite that you’re familiar with its history as well (even just a tad). To give you a little background, San Beda and Letran were not originally rivals because it was Ateneo-San Beda and La Salle-Letran until two of the said schools left for the UAAP.
And given the circumstances, this gave birth to the more than 50 years of rivalry between the Men in Red and the Knights of Intramuros.
The Red Lions and Letran Knights faced each other for the first time in the NCAA finals way back in October 28, 1950 which was led by basketball hall of famers of today, Carlos Loyzaga for San Beda and Lauro Mumar of Letran.
After that, it has been a constant battle for both schools on proving who’s the best basketball team in the league and it wasn’t always a pretty picture.
Due to the school spirit shown by players, alumni, and students, things always seem to get heat up before, during, and after the game. It’s like reflex or unavoidable for some reason. In fact, when they get head to head with each other, it’s like trash talking and violence was the name of the game.
Although, this is one of the reasons why watching rivalry games are more exciting. It gives you thrill and almost out of breath excitement because even the crowd gets rowdy.
So, let’s travel 26 years later. Both schools are still power houses with Chito Loyzaga, JB Yango, and Frankie Lim winning back to back championships for San Beda. While Letran’s Tim Coloso together with Ramon San Juan and Ed Baldomero stopping the Red Battalion’s streak and led their 1979 championship.
After that, the Knights continue their success and dominance in the NCAA throughout the 80s and 90s and producing more notable and talented athletes of today such as, Samboy Lim, Kerby Raymundo, and Christian Calaguio.
On the other hand, while the Knights in Blue were at their peak, San Beda was experiencing a dry spell that lasted for 28 years. Which is why, the season 82 back in 2006 against the PCU Dolphins might be the sweetest victory that the Red Army has ever experienced yet. Ending the 28-year drought at 82 with Koy Banal as their head coach.
Since then, San Beda has regained its crown and proved that they are giving justice to their monicker. The Lion, king of the jungle.
Now, for the past 13 years, San Beda has claimed 11 championships except the ones in 2009 against San Sebastian Stags who cut off their 3-peat streak. And the other one was probably most hurtful one, the NCAA season 91 in 2015 when the Aldin Ayo-led Letran Knights stole the crown from the Red Lions and stopping San Beda’s almost recording breaking 6-peat.
Knowing that there’s no collegiate team in the Philippines that has yet to pull off a six consecutive championship title before, it shocked the entire San Beda community. And adding insult to injury, it was their rival team who stopped them. What are the odds, right?
“It was like ghost town inside San Beda the day after that finals game three. Some of the professors didn’t even conduct classes because they witnessed the most upsetting game ever for San Beda,” said by an anonymous student from San Beda.
At the moment, the Mendiola-based team have 21 titles under their belt while the Muralla-based boys have 17, making them the top two teams with most number of championships in the league.
This rivalry is probably the cherry on top of NCAA. Power house or not, San Beda and Letran will always give you one most entertaining basketball game. So, don’t hold on to your seats when watching their battles, because you’ll be jumping with thrill and excitement for sure.
Follow the writer on Twitter: @thegreatangelli
