For the second straight year, the NCAA championship will be decided by yet another winner-take-all Game Three.
This developed after the resilient Letran Knights forced a series-decider with a 79-74 win over the defending champions San Beda Red Lions in Game Two of the finals yesterday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
With star guard Mark Cruz hounded by foul trouble and league MVP Raymund Almazan hobbled by cramps, the Knights turned to their shock troopers and they delivered as Jamil Gabawan made two free throws, McJour Luib hit a lay-up, Kevin Racal finished off a fast break attack and Ford Ruaya scored on a turnaround jumper that made a 64-all game into a 72-64 lead with a little over two minutes left.
Baser Amer, Francis Abarcar and Ola Adeogun kept San Beda in the game as a three-pointer by the 6-foot-8 Nigerian pegged the count at 74-77. But Cruz sealed the win with two free throws with 10.9 seconds remaining.
Cruz, the smallest guy on the floor, came up the biggest as he scored 16 points while Ruaya, Racal and Almazan had 12 apiece.
Art dela Cruz was the lone bright spot for the Red Lions as he scored 23 points, including consecutive three-point shots that kept the Knights from breaking away late in the third canto and kept them within three, 51-54, heading to the final stanza. Rome dela Rosa and Adeogun added 10 markers each but the former fouled out early in the fourth canto.
Game Three will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the same venue. The Red Lions are looking for a repeat of last year’s Game Three, where they routed the Knights, 67-39, to win their third straight crown.