By MARK REY MONTEJO
History beckons Letran as it eyes another coronation when it battles Perpetual in Game 2 of the NCAA Season 99 juniors basketball Finals on Wednesday, March 20, at the FilOil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The Squires, who went a game ahead in the finals series, hope to replicate their surprisingly dominant 97-80 Game 1 win over the top-seeded Junior Altas in their 2:30 p.m showdown
Serving as an appetizer is the battle-for-third between Mapua and San Sebastian at 10 a.m. and will be followed by Individual Awards Ceremonies at 1 p.m.
Tagged as the underdogs in the Finals showdown, Letran head coach Allen Ricardo said his charges drew motivation from it to perform better particularly on the defensive end.
“With due respect to Perpetual, they are the No. 1 team, they are taller than us. Statistics wise lahat sila mataas, so isa ‘yon sa motivation to defend them well,” said Ricardo who is also banking on his team’s experience heading into the pivotal second game
“Malaking tulong talaga ‘yong experience namin last finals, malaking tulong talaga ‘yong experience from Season 98 going into championship season of Season 99 para maging composed ‘yong mga bata” he added.
Titing Manalili showed the way for the Squires last Saturday, March 16, exploding with a career-high of 35 points along with nine rebounds, nine assists and four steals.
Along with Manalili, the Intramuros-based squad is expected to lean on its potent weapons in June Silorio, George Diamante Jr., and Jolo Navarro on both ends of the floor.
The Junior Altas, however, want none of that as they hope to force a rubber match.
Perpetual is counting on spitfire Jan Pagulayan, Lebron Jhames Daep, Jan Roluna while it is also hoping to see a huge bounce back game from star Amiel Acido after struggling to find his mark in the series opener.
