1950, the NCAA Finals: Colegio De San Juan Letran and San Beda College dispute the premiere basketball championship of the country. Pinoy hoops gods Lauro Mumar of Letran and Caloy Loyzaga of San Beda were the featured players. Mumar’s Knights were on their way to a season sweep when they were derailed by Loyzaga’s Red Lions. Mumar however would have the last laugh as he led the Knights to the crown. It was a fitting end to a glorious season for both schools.

57 years later a long-awaited, much anticipated rematch is here. This time fortunes have been somewhat reversed. In this Season 83 campaign Letran averted a season sweep by San Beda by upsetting the Red Lions in the first round of the eliminations. Forward Rey Guevara all of a sudden became a big time player by hitting the last key baskets in the end game to give his Knights that big win in Round 1. San Beda however outlasted Letran in Round 2 thanks to the heady plays of crackerjack point guard Pong Escobal.

Both teams did not play around in the Final 4 as they blasted separate rivals to arrange this classic rematch nearly 60 years in the making. San Beda plastered the Mapua Cardinals 74-64 while Letran dumped Jose Rizal 70-61, abbreviating the Final 4 showdowns at the Big Dome. The Finals will start on Wednesday 19 September 2007.

Yousif Aljamal, the power forward subject to a late season controversy after he was selected in the PBA draft, led the Red Lions with 26 points and eight rebounds, a statement game if ever there was one, while his Big 3 associates Sam Ekwe and Pong Escobal chipped in 10 and 13 points respectively. RJ Jazul, the one-time hardcore B Team player who has emerged as Letran’s White Knight this season, had 17 points and six assists in his latest shining performance.

Gameface.ph takes a look at how the two teams match up:

Perimeter

San Beda has Pong Escobal. Letran has RJ Jazul. These two young men are arguably the best guards in the NCAA right now. Both of them have the requisite skill sets of any guard: speed, strength, handles, jets, springs, passing, vision, leadership. Escobal is a little bigger than Jazul, but Jazul is the more natural fulltime pointguard. Both can hit from deep and slash, set up the halfcourt and run the break. Jazul is a little better fundamentally on defense, although Escobal has great instincts in taking away passing angles. Escobal however has the championship experience, ably leading the Red Lions to last year’s crown.

Joining Escobal in the Red Lion backcourt are Borgie Hermida, Garvo Lanete, Chico Tirona, Ogie Menor and Bam Gamalinda. All of them are long, athletic and quick. Menor has seemingly become the forgotten star in this San Beda lineup, after being the subject of a controversial recruitment tussle a couple seasons ago. Still, he is one of the best players at his position in the NCAA, and can score in bunches and provide an element of toughness for the San Beda perimeter. This is a deep and talented corps that has found little match in the league thus far.

Letran has Jon Melegrito, Noy Gutilban, Ron Dangcal and Miko Quinday in their regular perimeter rotation. This group is not quite as flashy as San Beda’s but they have been very effective. Quinday in particular has been a valuable glue guy for the Knights, providing a lot of leadership and other intangibles to stabilize this group of relatively unheralded players. They have gotten the job done because Quinday has seen them through. His court smarts must be on high alert if Letran is to have a chance in this series.

Advantage: None

Frontline

Let’s face it: any team that can put reigning MVP Sam Ekwe and likely MVP Yousif Aljamal together on the floor will be nearly impossible to match. Ekwe and Aljamal are big, strong, athletic and fearless, everything any one could ask for in post players. They were already ambushed by Letran in Round 1 and are dying to prove that will never happen again, and they have the numbers and the back ups to do so.

Ekwe leads the league in rebounds and blocks, and is nearly impossible to move when he plants himself in either box. He has developed an ability to use the window off the glass to get some nifty short jumpers and jump hooks. His ability to free himself away from the ball and keep moving on the San Beda motion offense has him in at least half of the Top 10 highlight reels of the season.

Aljamal on the other hand, for all of the controversy that has hounded him of late, made quite a statement when they ousted Mapua with a season-high 26 points. He is arguably the most fundamentally sound post player in the NCAA and carries a lot of experience and veteran wiles.

They are joined by ROY frontrunner Dave Marcelo, JR Taganas and Bong Maggay to form a beefy frontline. That is a lot of size and power in the low blocks, and they have been very effective in cleaning up the glass on both ends as well as intimidating opposing players. When Ekwe sat out one game due to a suspension Marcelo in particular stepped up and more than held his own against older and more experienced players.

Letran may not have this kind of depth and talent but they do have enough to stay competitive. Brian Faundo, Dino Daa, Rey Guevara and Bong Cabonce are probably the biggest bunch of overachieving frontline players in the NCAA. They do not exactly have the mass or size of San Beda but they are tough, court smart and relentless. Guevara most of all should get a lot of special attention from the Red Lions big men after he led his Knights to that first round upset. Guevara, the former B Team pretty boy who was often on the wrong end of matinee idol tomfoolery in off-season tournaments, has become one of the key players for Letran with his athleticism and unheralded strength off the offensive glass.

Faundo for his part has achieved cult status with the way the venue barkers have been announcing his name. Kidding aside though, he has also been perhaps the most underrated starting center in the league. Faundo routinely leads the Knights in rebounds and blocks and can hit the mid-range jumpshot, thus drawing out opposing big men who sit in a halfcourt zone. Against a Red Lions frontline on a mission to retain the championship though, he and Guevara may not be enough.

Advantage: San Beda

Defense

Coach Louie Alas has always emphasized defense. In his previous two championships with Letran their battle cry was always a rousing yell of “Defense!” As a team Letran has been very successful in limiting the production of opponents across the board. Their full court press and individual on-ball defense has been tight, disrupting the rhythm of their opponents by taking away precious seconds form the shot clock. Their ability to sustain this kind of defense has been key in keeping them close to San Beda in their two previous encounters.

For his part Coach Frankie Lim has never ceased to instill the importance of defense in the San Beda scheme of things. San Beda however is so talented and deep on offense that their firepower has overshadowed their defense. Of course no one can deny that having the towering Nigerian Ekwe patrolling the paint gives Sam Beda the best insurance policy when it comes to defense. Guards can take more chances lunging after possible steals knowing that the 6-foot-8 giant is right there in case their gambits fail. Ekwe does not just block shots. He alters those he does not directly get to. The defensive glass is practically his own personal savanna, collaring rebounds with impunity.

Defense however, like everything else in basketball, is all about team work, and in this aspect Letran has few peers.

Advantage: Letran

Bottom Line

These Finals are all about a proud and storied basketball tradition. Two teams who go back over the decades are about to slug it out for the premiere prize in Philippine basketball. Each will look to history for inspiration, but will undoubtedly face the present on their own terms. Both teams have dreams and visions of championship glory, and their own plans about how to get it.

Coach Louie Alas will be in his third Finals in five years, and he won the last two times, albeit with deeper and more talented lineups. Still, no one doubts Alas knows what it takes to win in the Finals, and his Knights aren’t exactly wet-behind-the ears rookies. For Letran, their key person for this championship quest will be calling the shots from the bench.

Coach Frankie Lim is in his first NCAA Finals, and has the added pressure if trying to retain the crown San Beda won so handily last season. They ended 28 in 82 last season. And they did it against an equally deep and talented but far more experienced PCU squad, proving that they know how to get it done even against veteran teams. Hard as it may be to believe they actually have a better team this year, vastly improved in the forge of experience and a second year together virtually intact.

Fans will be turning out in droves to be part of the latest chapter in a very colored history.

In the end however, it says here the crown stays in Mendiola.