San Beda’s Ola Adeogun had his double-double put to waste in a loss to Letran in Game 1 of the NCAA Season 91 Finals last Friday. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Pushed to the limit so many times in their dominant run in the NCAA the past decade, the Red Lions have proven more than equal to every challenge.
They need to pull off one more unique feat this season: Battle back from a 0-1 series deficit and take the title series to a Game 3.
The Lions absorbed a 90-94 setback at the hands of the Letran Knights in Game 1 of the Season 91 basketball finals at Mall of Asia Arena last Friday, marking the first time the reigning champions yielded the series opener since 2009, when San Beda got swept by San Sebastian in the finals.
With his team’s title-retention bid hanging by a thread, San Beda coach Jamike Jarin remained defiant, saying his wards will bounce back and force a winner-take-all match.
“I’m positive because we still have a Game 2,” said Jarin. “We played bad [in Game 1] but the game was still close.”
The Lions, who had 29 turnovers, were actually in the flow offensively with 29 assists, but Letran picked up 15 steals in another strong defensive effort.
More than anything, Jarin felt he was the one to blame for his team’s performance, particularly in the final period where the Lions couldn’t stop the Knights from hitting one big shot after another.
“I failed to coach the right way,” said Jarin. “We need to take care of the ball and I need to coach better.”
The Red Lions got 23 points and 16 rebounds from Adeogun, but veterans Art dela Cruz and Baser Amer combined for only 16 points.
“Everybody is so used to the big numbers from Baser and Art, but this is the finals and we lost, so everything gets magnified,” said Jarin. “We need to play smarter. We need to take care of the ball. We have to compete for 40 minutes.”