NCAA Season 81

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NCAA Season 81
One @ 81: Values Formation Through Sports
General champions:
Seniors' champion Juniors' champion
St. Benilde San Sebastian
Host: Colegio de San Juan de Letran

NCAA Season 81 was the 2005-2006 season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines). Colegio de San Juan de Letran was the season's host.

To usher in the new season, Letran and the other NCAA member schools performed the opening ceremonies at the Araneta Coliseum, followed by four basketball games on June 25, 2005. Other disciplines started their own tournaments within the following months, with beach volleyball as the last tournament on mid-March.

De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde won its first General Championship honors for the Seniors division, while the San Sebastian Recoletos High School won its second Juniors General Championship, via tiebreakers, when La Salle Green Hills emerged with an equal amount of points.

Contents

[edit] Men's basketball tournament

NCAA Season 81
Team 1 2 3 Wins
Letran Knights 74 78 62 2
PCU Dolphins 79 60 54 1
Duration September 19 to 23
Arena/s Araneta Coliseum
Finals MVP Boyet Bautista
TV network/s Studio 23 and TFC
Octo-One, the mascot of the 81st season of the NCAA.
Octo-One, the mascot of the 81st season of the NCAA.

The 2005 NCAA Basketball Playoffs is the postseason tournament of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for basketball at the 2005-06 season. The tournament is divided into two divisions: the Juniors tournament for male high school students, and the Seniors tournament for male college students.

The Letran Knights defeated the PCU Dolphins, 2 games to 1 in the seniors tournament to take their 16th title, with Boyet Bautista as the Finals MVP.

In the juniors division, the San Sebastian Staglets swept the San Beda Red Cubs, 2-0, to take their second title, as Eric Salamat won Finals MVP honors.

The eliminated teams after two rounds of elimination are:

[edit] Elimination round

[edit] Letran Knights

The Knights had an amazing streak of eleven straight wins right from opening day. The streak was threatened when they faced fellow unbeaten team, the PCU Dolphins, at the end of the first round. Both sporting 6-0 records, the game went into overtime, and Boyet Bautista and John Paul Alcaraz saved the day for the Knights beat the Dolphins resulting a first round sweep.

The streak ended when the Mapua Cardinals, led by the former All-Canadian Kelvin dela Peña beat the Knights as Letran failed to stop dela Peña and collapsed at the end game. The Knights recovered as they blew out the Stags, and swept the regular season series vs. PCU in the season finale.

[edit] PCU Dolphins

The defending champions PCU Dolphins also had their own 6-0 streak, beating Mapua and CSB. But it was ended by Letran (see above) in a tight contest.

Then came the shock loss against the San Beda Red Lions under San Beda's debuting coach Koy Banal. The Dolphins bounced back, beating last year's runner-up UPHSD Altas. However, PCU was defeated by the San Sebastian Stags in their second round rematch. On the next game, they clinched the twice to beat advantage when they beat Mapua. However, they failed to beat Letran in the regular season.

[edit] Mapua Cardinals

The Mapua Cardinals had their best start in fourteen years as they boasted a 4-0 card. But losses against defending champions PCU Dolphins and Intramuros arch rivals Letran dropped their record to 4-2. A buzzer-beater by Neil Pascual off a Kelvin dela Peña pass against the CSB Blazers kept their Final Four hopes alive. But successive loses against underachievering teams UPHSD Altas and JRU Heavy Bombers put the Final Four aspirations in doubt.

After successive wins against the San Beda Red Lions and CSB Blazers, the Cardinals found confidence in their game, and they beat the then undefeated Letran Knights under the heroics of Kelvin Dela Pena and Joferson Gonzales. PCU defeated them again in the eliminations, depriving the Cardinals for a twice to beat advantage in the semis. Mapua bounced back and scored a victory against the Stags. (It can be said that if the Cardinals have beaten the Bombers and the Blazers, then they would have a twice to beat advantage in the Semis, and could've been in the Finals.)

[edit] San Sebastian Stags

After failing to enter the Final Four for the first time since its inception in 1996, the Stags are itching to bring back the glory to their school. With 2003 NCAA MVP Leomar Najorda and Redentor Vicente, the Stags look poised to barge back into the Final Four. But with a disappointing 0-3 start, the Stags needed to win against the then undefeated CSB Blazers (3-0). Under the exploits of Najorda and Vicente, the Stags won the game.

The rest of season was a roller-coaster ride, with San Sebastian winning games against weaker teams. But a win against the PCU Dolphins finally sealed their Final Four appearance.

[edit] Final team standings

Team standings progression in the senior's basketball tournament.
Team standings progression in the senior's basketball tournament.
Legend
Qualified for semifinals with twice to beat advantage
Qualified for semifinals
# Team W L PCT GB
1  Letran Knights 13 1 .929 --
2  PCU Dolphins 10 4 .714 3
3  Mapúa Cardinals 9 5 .643 4
4  San Sebastian Stags 7 7 .500 6
5  UPHD Altas 6 8 .429 7
6  St. Benilde Blazers 5 9 .357 8
7  San Beda Red Lions 4 10 .286 9
8  JRU Heavy Bombers 2 12 .143 11

Host team in boldface.

[edit] Individual awards

[edit] Regular season awards

[edit] NCAA Players of the Week

Starting on the 2005-06 Season, the NCAA Press Corps have awarded the NCAA Player of the Week award to the most outstanding basketball player in a given week.

[edit] Semi-finals

These are the semi-final matchups for the 2005 Playoffs:

The team with the higher seed owns the twice to beat advantage.

ABS-CBN's affiliate, Studio 23, broadcasted the Final Four games.

  • September 9, 2005, Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay City
    • (1) Letran 93, (4) San Sebastian 60
      • Letran advances to the Finals.
      • After a weak start, the Knights unleashed a fourth quarter run that finally ended the Stags' season.
    • (2) PCU 76, (3) Mapua 53
      • PCU advances to the Finals.
      • The Dolphins, who practically led most of the way, survived a scare when the Cardinals through the efforts of Kelvin dela Peña, led by two points. But successive three pointers from Robert Sanz finished Mapua's hopes of bringing back the trophy to their Intramuros campus.

[edit] Finals

(1) Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights vs. (2) Philippine Christian University Dolphins

Letran and PCU started their two-year rivalry in the 2004 tournament, when the Dolphins eliminated the Knights in the do-or-die Semi-Final game that went into overtime via former Knight Ronjay Enrile's flubbed freethrows. The Dolphins then beat 2004's first seed UPHDS Altas in two games, taking their first NCAA seniors basketball title.

ABS-CBN's affiliate, Studio 23, broadcasted the Finals. The Filipino Channel broadcast the event overseas.

  • September 19, Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
    • (1) Letran 74, (2) PCU 79
      • PCU leads best of three series, 1-0.
      • A fourth quarter run by the Dolphins led by Jason Castro after the Gabby Espinas' disqualification sealed the game for the Dolphins inside a jampacked Araneta Coliseum. More info
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
PCU 20 24 20 22 79
Letran 19 23 15 17 74
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Letran 19 25 17 17 78
PCU 16 17 12 15 60
  • September 23, Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City
    • (1) Letran 62, (2) PCU 54
      • Letran wins best of three series, 2-1.
      • Letran's Boyet Bautista led the charge at the middle of the fourth quarter that put the Knights ahead for good. Bautista was named Finals MVP by the NCAA Press Corps. Letran coach Louie Alas captures his third NCAA title and was named Coach of the Year. More info
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
PCU 18 11 12 13 54
Letran 23 15 5 19 62

[edit] Bracket

  Semifinals
#1 & #2 has twice-to-beat advantage		 Finals
Best-of-three series
                       
1   Letran 93    
4   San Sebastian 60    
   1   Letran 74 78 62
   2   PCU 79 60 54
2   PCU 76  
3   Mapua 53    

[edit] Juniors basketball tournament

NCAA Season 81
Team 1 2 Wins
San Sebastian Staglets 83 81 2
San Beda Red Cubs 76 69 0
Duration September 19 to 23
Arena/s Araneta Coliseum
Finals MVP Eric Salamat
TV network/s Studio 23 and TFC

[edit] Elimination round

All of the games of the Colegio de San Juan de Letran Squires were forfeited when a certain player was caught playing in another league during the NCAA Basketball tournament. NCAA rules state that a player can't play in another league when the tournament is ongoing.

[edit] Elimination round

Legend
Qualified for semifinals with twice to beat advantage
Qualified for semifinals
# Team W L PCT GB
1  San Sebastian Staglets 11 1 .917 --
2  San Beda Red Cubs 10 2 .833 1
3  PCU Baby Dolphins 7 5 .583 4
4  JRU Light Bombers 7 5 .583 4
5  LSGH Greenies 5 7 .417 6
6  UPHD Altas 2 10 .167 9
7  Letran Squires 0 12 .000 11
8  Mapua Red Robins On leave

[edit] Classification matches

[edit] Individual awards

  • Most Valuable Player: Allan Mangahas (PCU-Union)
  • Mythical Five: Mangahas (PCU-Union), Darell Green (Letran), John Lopez (JRU), John Hermida (San Beda), Paul Lee (SSC-R)
  • Rookie of the Year: Green (Letran)
  • Defensive Player of the Year: Green (Letran)
  • Most Improved Player of the Year: Paolo Guidaben (SSC-R)

[edit] Semi-finals

[edit] Finals

(1) San Sebastian College - Recoletos Staglets vs. (2) San Beda College Red Cubs

ABS-CBN's affiliate, Studio 23, broadcasted the Finals.

[edit] Bracket

  Semifinals
#1 & #2 has twice-to-beat advantage		 Finals
Best-of-three series
                       
1   San Sebastian 95    
4   JRU 82    
   1   San Sebastian 83 81
   2   San Beda 76 69
2   San Beda 80  
3   PCU 73    

[edit] Trivia

  • It would be the first time Letran and PCU met in the Finals.
  • Letran is never beaten at the Finals since 1980.
  • Letran's two loses came from Mapua (Eliminations) and PCU (Finals).
  • Letran broke the losing streak of host schools in the Finals. San Sebastian lost (to Letran) in 2003, and UPHDS lost (to PCU) in 2004 while hosting the basketball tournament.
  • It was the 12th time Letran hosted the basketball tournament.
  • Letran did not have a Mythical 5 awardee, while PCU's Gabby Espinas wasn't named MVP for he was suspended in a game.
  • Letran coach Louis Alas won his third NCAA title. The first two were on 1998 and 2001, both with Letran.
  • PCU's Game 2 defeat was their first NCAA Finals loss (they've previously won the first two games, in 2004, when they swept the Altas).
  • PCU coach Junel Baculi made it to the Finals on his first year coaching PCU. Former coach Loreto Tolentino had to leave due to conflict of interest (he also coaches the UM Hawks men's basketball team).
  • PCU wore white jerseys and blue shorts on the deciding Game 3 of the Finals.
  • It is the first time in the Finals that all of the three games were held at the Araneta Coliseum.
  • It would be the first time that the NCAA had a mascot for the whole season.
  • San Sebastian's victory in the Juniors division was their first in 19 years. They've also broken San Beda's run of three consecutive championships.
  • The Letran Squires were suspended because a letran player, Lester Alvarez was caught playing in a commercial league while the NCAA season is still on-going. The ManCom decided to forfeit all wins of Letran and suspended for the rest of the season.

[edit] Other sports and General Championship

[edit] Championship results

Arranged by order of conclusion:

[edit] Juniors division

Event Champion 1st Runner Up 2nd Runner Up
First Semester Events
Swimming LSGH UPHSD San Sebastian
Basketball San Sebastian San Beda PCU
Volleyball San Sebastian LSGH PCU
Chess San Sebastian PCU Letran
Taekwondo Letran LSGH PCU
Second Semester Events
Table Tennis Letran San Sebastian LSGH
Football LSGH San Beda Letran
Tennis San Sebastian San Beda UPHSD
Track & Field LSGH Letran PCU

[edit] Seniors division

Event Champion 1st Runner Up 2nd Runner Up
First Semester Events
Swimming San Beda PCU St. Benilde
Cheerleading¹ UPHSD San Sebastian Letran
Basketball Letran PCU Mapua
Men's Volleyball PCU San Sebastian Letran
Women's Volleyball San Sebastian PCU Letran
Chess St. Benilde Mapua Letran
Second Semester Events
Taekwondo San Beda St. Benilde Letran
Men's Table Tennis St. Benilde Letran San Sebastian
Women's Table Tennis St. Benilde PCU Letran
Football San Beda St. Benilde Mapua
Tennis San Sebastian San Beda PCU
Men's Beach Volley St. Benilde Letran PCU
Women's Beach Volley St. Benilde San Sebastian Letran & PCU (tied)
Track & Field PCU Mapua San Sebastian

¹ Not a part in the tabulation of the General Championship

[edit] General Championship

Main article: NCAA Philippines General Championship

[edit] Seniors division

Rank School Points
1st St. Benilde 233
2nd PCU 207.5
3rd San Sebastian 192.5
4th Letran 168
5th San Beda 136
6th Mapua 78
7th UPHSD 40
8th JRU 11

[edit] Juniors division

Rank School Points
1st San Sebastian¹ 170
2nd LSGH¹ 170
3rd Letran 127
4th PCU 93
5th San Beda 88
6th UPHSD 70
7th JRU 22
8th Mapua² 0

¹ Since San Sebastian had more championships (4) than LSGH (3), San Sebastian won the General Championship, despite being tied for first place.
² Mapua did not send representatives in the Juniors division

[edit] See also

Preceded by
NCAA Season 80		 NCAA Philippines seasons
2005-2006		 Succeeded by
NCAA Season 82
v • d • e
National Collegiate Athletic Association (2008-09)
Colleges


High schools
Letran | LSGH | JRU | Malayan | PCU Union* | San Beda-Rizal | San Sebastian | UPHSD
Seniors' teams
Juniors' teams
Squires | Greenies | Light Bombers | Red Robins | Baby Dolphins* | Red Cubs | Staglets | Altalettes
Sports
*PCU's junior teams are suspended for the 2008-09 season.