The top two teams are set to fight for the NCAA Season 99 Juniors Basketball Finals.
University of Perpetual Help System DALTA and Colegio de San Juan de Letran dispatched their respective Final Four foes to advance to the best-of-three finale on Sunday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre.
The top-seeded Junior Altas dropped the Mapua Red Robins, 96-91, while the defending champions Knights romped the San Sebastian Staglets, 91-77.
Game 1 of the finals is on March 16 at 9:30 AM, still at the same San Juan venue.
“Noong una ko nakita na they really wanna win, I told them na don’t wait for next year, now or never,” said Joph Cleopas, the first-year head coach who steered Perpetual to its first-ever finals.
Squires head coach Allen Ricardo is wary of what the Altas can bring as they lost to the same team in the elimination round, 94-88, last March 1.
“Mabigat [na] kalaban ‘yung Perpetual, talagang they are taller than us, so kailangan alamin namin lalo kung paano namin madedepensahan, and from there we’re just trying to keep the game close, and baka sa dulo may chances kami,” said the reigning Coach of the Year.
In just his fourth game of the season, Jan Roluna posted a much-needed double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Junior Altas.
Supporting Roluna were Jhames Daep who also dropped 22 markers, and team captain Amiel Acido chipped in 20 points and five assists.
In what proved to be a tight match up to the waning minutes of the final quarter, the Red Robins found themselves up by three.
However, in the last five minutes, the Junior Altas pulled off with a massive 15-3 run sparked by a corner triple from Mark Gojo Cruz to lead 89-80.
With just above two minutes left in the game, Perpetual held on to their advantage as they booked their ticket to the Finals.
Titing Manalili came up huge for the Squires with a double-double of 19 points and 10 assists off a 72-percent shooting clip while Jolo Navarro had a double-double of his own copping 14 markers and 10 rebounds for Letran.
In a back-and-forth contest until the start of the second half, an unsportsmanlike foul called on Angelo Herrera caused San Sebastian not only to lose their lead–but to ignite a massive 13-2 run by Letran to end the third.
The Squires never looked back and led the Golden Staglets by as much as 20 in the fourth quarter.
For Mapua, Sean Salvador and Lawrence Mangubat were pivotal as both Red Robins tallied 26 and 23 points, respectively.
Meanwhile, Ruvic Danag and Jhun Penaverde had twin 19-point performances for the Golden Staglets.
Both Mapua and San Sebastian will have the chance to reach the podium on March 20, at the battle for third match before the second game of the finals.
The Scores:
First Game
Perpetual 96 – Roluna 22, Daep 22, Acido 20, Gojo Cruz 11, Borja 8, Diaz 5, Pagulayan 5, Asuncion 3, Callangan 0, Valencia 0, Cristino 0, Ayon 0
Mapua 91 – Salvador 26, Mangubat 23, Duque 14, Valina 9, Rodriguez 6, Masiglat 4, Coronel 3, Palis 2, Mulingtapang 2, Malaga 2, Mananquil 0, Go 0, Bagro 0, Bernabe 0
Quarterscores: 26-19; 46-45; 67-66; 96-91
Second Game
Letran 91 – Manalili 19, Navarro 14, Silorio 14, Diamante 13, Padilla 9, Villanueva 9, Gazzingan 6, Baliling 4, De Leon 3, Dela Rama 0, Hugo 0, Golez 0, Reyes 0, Alforque 0, Cruz 0
San Sebastian 77 – Danag 19, Penaverde 19, Porcadas 8, Jimenez 8, Herrera 7, Melano 6, Bonus 5, Roales 3, Bautista 2, Marasigan 0, Apostol 0, Hadji Casan 0, Jacob 0
Quarterscores: 25-20; 42-38; 69-57; 91-77
