The Philippine Online Chronicles

As 2011 draws to a close, it’s time to take a look back at some of the news makers of the year that has passed. In this edition, we take a look back at the two college basketball teams that left their mark in the Philippine sports scene.

Continued from part 1.

On the flip side, however, the Mendiola-based Red Lions were initially counted out in the pre-season due to a freak knee injury sustained by big man Sudan Daniel, who was supposedly playing his last year with the team this season. Instead, the reigning NCAA MVP was forcefully sidelined following the operation that repaired the partial damage to the knee.
Not surprisingly, however, San Beda dominated through the first eight games of the 10-team field that included guest squad Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU), who were one of the founding members of the Inter-Scholastic Athletic Association (ISAA). The only close shave of that first round was their match against College of Saint Benilde (CSB), where they narrowly escaped with their lives with a one-point win.
Entering their ninth game of the tournament, they had a date with destiny against their Finals nemesis for the past two years, San Sebastian College (SSC-R). In that nip-and-tuck battle that saw push coming to shove, the Golden Stags came out victorious in an end game nail biter to break the Red Lions’ then 26-game winning streak that dated back to the opening day of the previous season.
With yet another loss in surprising fashion to a streaking Jose Rizal University (JRU) five, it seemed as if the title was destined to slip out of their hands for the second time in six years. But fate intervened and SSC-R dropped their first game against Colegio de San Juan de Letran (CSJL), just an earshot away from their return duel to end the elimination round.
In that match, San Beda avenged their earlier loss to the Stags and forged a playoff for the Number 1 seed, in which they eventually gained in a succeeding return match just two days after.

During the Final Four, the Red Lions disposed of the Heavy Bombers to set up their third consecutive showdown with their rivals down the street in Recto.
Just like last year, the Red Lions proved their dominance over the “All-Filipino” squad from Baste as their “Big Three” of Ronald Pascual, Ian Sangalang and season Most Valuable Player Calvin Abueva were no match to the breakout performances of Mar Villahermosa and the Semerad twins Anthony and David in the series.
Simply put, the theme of their season was: No Sudan, no problem.
With their latest addition to their hardware collection, San Beda has now tied Letran for the most number of NCAA men’s basketball crowns with 16.
By the end of the series, it was Dave Marcelo who was named the outstanding player after averaging 8 points, 13.5 rebounds and 1 block during the two games that gave the school their fifth men’s crown in six years.
As an incentive to both teams that topped their respective collegiate conferences, they were given free passes to the Round Robin Final Four of the ongoing Philippine Collegiate Champions League. There, the Blue Eagles have managed to stay alive in defending their crown by advancing to the final round where they will face San Sebastian, who nabbed a twice-to-beat advantage by defeating the defending national champions in an earlier match.

Image taken from GonchoA on Flickr. Some rights reserved.