Letran goes for clincher, Perpetual seeks to equalize in Game 2 of Finals

Published March 19, 2024 9:05pm

Updated March 19, 2024 9:05pm

Colegio de San Juan de Letran will bank on championship experience while University of Perpetual Help System DALTA will look to prove their top team status when they clash in Game 2 of the NCAA Season 99 juniors basketball finals on Wednesday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.

The defending champion Squires and the top-seeded Junior Altas will slug it out at 2:30 p.m. with Letran looking to close the series out and clinch back-to-back titles while Perpetual hopes to force a do-or-die Game 3.

Letran head coach Allen Ricardo knows they still have a lot of things to improve despite a dominant 97-80 victory in Game 1, which saw the one-two punch of Jonathan Manalili and George Diamante carrying the scoring cudgels for the Muralla crew.

“We need to check the videos, what went wrong, what went good so from there, we’ll make adjustments and ayun, syempre may unfinished business pa tayo,” Ricardo said.

“With due respect to Perpetual, they are the number one team, they are taller than us, and statistics-wise mas mataas sila sa amin, so ‘yun ‘yung mga motivations namin to defend them well.”

[We need to check the videos, what went wrong, what went good so from there, we’ll make adjustments and there, we of course have unfinished business still… With due respect to Perpetual, they are the number one team, they are taller than us, and statistics-wise, they are ranked higher than us, so that’s our motivation to defend them well.]

Manalili, who exploded for a career-high 35 points on top of nine rebounds and nine assists, stressed he is already expecting for the Junior Altas to put the clamps on him after the way he erupted in the previous outing.

But the 6-foot-tall, 19-year-old guard doesn’t mind it and said he will just try to be consistent.

“Consistency lang siguro, sana ‘yun pa rin ‘yung maipakita ko or mahigitan.”

[We just need consistency. I hope I can show the same or even exceed it.]

Meanwhile, Perpetual is hoping that the two-day preparation would be enough to pull off an equalizer with the likes of MVP frontrunner Amiel Acido as well as JD Pagulayan, Mark Gojo Cruz, and Lebron Jhames Daep tipped to lead the charge.

Perpetual head coach Joph Cleopas also stressed his team actually has finals experience as they had already clinched a title during the United Basketball League (UBL) last year, where they defeated the Adamson University Baby Falcons, who eventually won the UAAP juniors title.

“Obviously this is our first championship experience [in the NCAA], but we’ve experienced a lot of championships sa offseason. But Letran did a great job today, ang ganda ng nilaro nila,” Cleopas shared.

“We’ll just return to practice and work on the things that we need to do and correct and we will just play basketball.”

[Obviously, this is our first championship experience in the NCAA, but we’ve experienced a lot of championships in the offseason. But Letran did a great job today, they played really well… We’ll just return to practice and work on the things that we need to do and correct and we will just play basketball.]

Before their Game 2 collision, Mapua University and San Sebastian College-Recoletos will first tangle in their battle for third at 10 a.m. to be followed by the Awarding Ceremonies at 1 p.m.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News