San Sebastian–Letran rivalry

This rivalry is between Recto's San Sebastian and Muralla's Letran.

School colors of Letran and San Sebastian.

After both Ateneo and La Salle left, San Sebastian (frequently shortened to "Baste") strengthened their basketball program. The acquisition of Paul Alvarez to San Sebastian and Samboy Lim to Letran provided several close games in the 1980s which led to the birth of the rivalry.

In the 1980s, Letranites were notorious for yelling profanities at the San Sebastian players, and on one occasion, led to a rumble at Vito Cruz Avenue when at the last second, a power interruption occurred, causing confusion on what team won the championship. The rumbles between the two schools have become more frequent which solidified the intense rivalry between the two schools.[1] Paul Alvarez would later play for the Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs of the United States Basketball League.[2]

The rivalry continued in the turn of the millennium when the Stags met the Knights in the finals twice. This led to several memorable games in which the Knights won the 1998 edition with a barrage of three-pointers and free throws by Letran's Nicholas Pacheco with a few seconds remaining to win their 13th championship. The Knights also became the first 4th seed to upset the 1st seed in the Final Four when they defeated the Stags twice during the 1999 NCAA Final Four. That feat would soon be duplicated the following year when the 4th seed Stags upended top seed JRC Heavy Bombers in the 2000 NCAA Final Four. The Knights went on to win the 1999 NCAA championship. In the 2003 NCAA Finals, the Stags (defending champs) made a rally in the 4th quarter in the 3rd game of their series and kept Letran scoreless for almost 6 minutes that led them to take the lead but Boyet Bautista started the comeback by tying the game at 48-all and then his teammates Jonathan Piñera and Aaron Aban finished the game to win their 15th championship at the expense of the Stags. In 2004, they renewed their rivalry in the second round of eliminations wherein Letran denied Baste's Final 4 hopes and eventually broke their streak of Final Four appearances (since the inception of the final four format in 1998 San Sebastian is always in the Final Four) making it their worst performance in 6 years.

Head-to-head record by sport

Seniors' Division

General Championship

Letran leads the General Championship race with 9-4.[3]

Juniors' Division

General Championship

Letran leads the general championship race with 7-6.[3]

Basketball Statistics

Men's basketball results

Both teams are expected to meet at least 2 times per year.

Date San Sebastian Letran Venue Note/s
October 1, 1987 San Sebastian 91 Letran 81 Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila Finals Game 1
October 6, 1987 San Sebastian 90 Letran 93 Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila Finals Game 2
October 9, 1987 San Sebastian 62 Letran 63 Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila Finals Game 3
1987 San Sebastian 77 Letran 73 Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila San Sebastian prevailed over Letran 77–73 preventing a comeback from the Knights which cut the 38–58 SSC lead to a 2-point 71–73 deficit. Paul Alvarez tipped on a miss from a fellow Stag, but Letran's Robert Ruiz split his two free-throws to keep pace with SSC, 72–75. Marlon Bolabola put up a free-throw, then Melchor Teves grabbed the rebound, that led to Crizalde Bade converting two free-throws for SSC off a Jerry Ruiz foul.to put San Sebastian up for good 77–73.
1987 San Sebastian 85 Letran 84 Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila San Sebastian defeated Letran 85–84 as Eugene Quilban prevented Jerry Ruiz from catching the ball in a pick-and-roll attempt with 2.7 seconds left. With San Sebastian winning both halves of the elimination round, San Sebastian were named outright champions, their third league championship.
1998 San Sebastian 74 Letran 81* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila Championship game.
1999 San Sebastian 63 Letran 65 Semifinals. Letran, the fourth seed, eliminated the top-seeded San Sebastian Stags who had a twice-to-beat advantage.Letran went on to win the championship vs. JRU.
2003 San Sebastian 73 Letran 89 Finals game 1
2003 San Sebastian 85 Letran 77 Finals game 2
2003 San Sebastian 59 Letran 64 Finals game 3. Letran wins series in 3 games.
September 9, 2005 San Sebastian 60 Letran 93 Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay Semifinals. Letran went on to win the championship vs. PCU.
July 3, 2006 San Sebastian 73 Letran 81 Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Manila Letran had an undeafeated record prior to the game.
July 6, 2007 San Sebastian 61 Letran 71 The Arena, San Juan Letran had a 2-0 record prior to the game.
August 24, 2007 San Sebastian 63 Letran 67 The Arena, San Juan
2008 San Sebastian 67 Letran 71 Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay Letran had a 3-0 record prior to the game.
2008 San Sebastian 76 Letran 73 Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay San Sebastian was on a 5-game winning streak prior to the game.
2009 San Sebastian 77 Letran 74 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan San Sebastian had an 8-0 record prior to the game.
2009 San Sebastian 63 Letran 80 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan San Sebastian had a 15-0 record prior to the game. Letran gave San Sebastian its first loss of the season.
June 26, 2010 San Sebastian 59 Letran 53 Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Opening game.
2010 San Sebastian 59 Letran 58 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan San Sebastian was on a 4-game winning streak prior to the game.
2011 San Sebastian 71 Letran 62 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan Both teams had a 3-0 record prior to the game.
2011 San Sebastian 81 Letran 82* Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan A repeat of season 85, San Sebastian had a 15-0 record prior to the game. Letran gave San Sebastian its first loss of the season, in overtime.
October 17, 2011 San Sebastian 62 Letran 70 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan Semifinals game 1. Letran forces a rubber match.
October 19, 2011 San Sebastian 63 Letran 56 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan Semifinals game 2, San Sebastian lost in the Finals vs. San Beda.
June 23, 2012 San Sebastian 74 Letran 80 Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Opening game.
2012 San Sebastian 67 Letran 82 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan San Sebastian and Letran was on a 4-game and 2-game winning streak respectively prior to the game.
October 13, 2012 San Sebastian 67 Letran 82 Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Semifinals game 1. Letran forces a rubber match.
October 15, 2012 San Sebastian 67 Letran 82 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan Semifinals game 2. Letran lost in the Finals vs. San Beda.
June 22, 2013 San Sebastian 69 Letran 74 Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Opening game.
2013 San Sebastian 68 Letran 75 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan Letran was on a 4-game winning streak prior to the game.
November 7, 2013 San Sebastian 58 Letran 85 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan Semifinals . Letran lost in the Finals vs. San Beda.
June 28, 2014 San Sebastian 85 Letran 83 Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay Opening game.
2014 San Sebastian 73 Letran 75 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan
August 25, 2015 San Sebastian 76 Letran 82 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan Letran had a 3-0 record prior to the game.
July 21, 2015 San Sebastian 89 Letran 87 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan San Sebastian pulled an upset over Letran, who had an 8-1 record prior to the game.
July 19, 2016 San Sebastian 77 Letran 90 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan
September 2, 2016 San Sebastian 61 Letran 73 Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan San Sebastian was on a 4-game winning streak prior to the game.

Juniors' Basketball Results

Date San Sebastian Letran Venue Note/s
October 1, 1987 San Sebastian 91 Letran 81 Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila Finals Game 1

Final Four Rankings

For comparison, these are the rankings of these two teams since the Final Four format was introduced.

  Finished as the champion
  Finished as the 1st runner-up
  Finished as the 2nd runner-up
  Finished as the 3rd runner-up

See also

References

  1. ↑ Stags, Knights begin NCAA best-of-three title series today The Manila Times (Google archive). September 17, 2003 issue
  2. ↑ Alvarez in listless USBL debut INQ7.net. April 3, 2006
  3. 1 2 NCAA Philippines - Championships
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