Keys to victory: San Beda-Lyceum Finals series

There’s a new rivalry in the NCAA and even if it’s just two-years-old, San Beda and Lyceum’s matchup is the stuff of stories.

Lyceum was the young upstart that went on a perfect run in the elimination round Season 93 before San Beda showed its might and swept the title series 2-0.

Things, however, changed in the NCAA Season 94 men’s basketball tournament with the Red Lions now taking the top seed with a 17-1 record while the Pirates are at the second spot with a 15-3 card.

Lyceum will try to get even with San Beda this time around while the defending champion will attempt to get its 22nd title.

For a little bit of history, the Red Lions have more championships, 21, than the Pirates have years, seven, in the NCAA.

Here are INQUIRER’s keys to victory for this year’s NCAA Finals.

Setting up the trap

For the Pirates, everything starts with defense, and their brand of ball pressure is a thing of poetic beauty that.

Lyceum’s floor coverage is second to none and that continuous pressure made it the best team in terms of steals, turnover points, fastbreak points, and pace.

The Pirates had a country-mile lead in the steals race of the tournament with 192 total, 68 more than second-place San Sebastian, and that equates to 10.1 a game and all those swipes translated to 357 points off of their opponents’ turnovers or 18.8 points per match.

Lyceum also ran the floor with the greatest of ease coming away with 349 fastbreak points or 18.4 a game.

This frenetic movement the Pirates the league-leader in terms of pace with 89.26 possessions per 40 minutes, a direct contrast of San Beda’s offense that saw the defending champion with just 76.84 possessions per game.

San Beda and Lyceum’s contrasting pace could very well play into the finals series with the team that plays in its own tempo surely to gain the upper hand.

Shield and sword

Jumping off from the previous entry, another distinct contrast the two teams have is their offensive and defensive powers.

San Beda has the stingiest defense in the league allowing just 62.7 points, a result of its slow pace that lulls opposing teams to playing to its style of play, while Lyceum scores the most points with 87.7 points per game.

And these contrasting styles played out in the season series between the two teams as they split it 1-1 and both games getting decided by seven points each.

The two teams’ differing approaches to the game also translates to the free throw line.

Lyceum had the most number of free throw attempts in the eliminations with 467 tries  but only converted 292 for a league-worst 62.5 percent conversion.

The Red Lions, meanwhile, have been more methodical in their trips to the line.

San Beda had the sixth-most attempts with 389 and made 266 of those making it the best free-throw shooting team in terms of percentages.

Unleash the bench

San Beda always had a deep bench to help carry the load of the starters but the Pirates’ second and third units have been marvelous for them throughout the season.

The Red Lions’ backups produce a respectable 26.3 points per game making them the seventh highest scoring bench in the league but the Pirates have a crazier band of rough housing.

Lyceum has the best bench in all of the NCAA scoring an average of 43.7 points, and this isn’t surprising at all as the team’s system requires scary amounts of effort from its players due to its constant pressure defense.

More than the numbers

This is just the second time that these two schools will meet in the championship series of the NCAA and a reason for that is the years of existence between them.

San Beda was one of the league’s founders in 1924 and has since won 21 basketball titles while Lyceum only became part of the NCAA in 2011 and just like any newcomer struggled in its first dew years.

The Pirates struggled for much of their first six years but had a sudden surge in 2017 during their perfect 18-0 run in the eliminations.

A title is still within arm’s length for Lyceum but experience isn’t on its side and that’s something San Beda has boatloads of.