Knights, Stags clash as NCAA stepladder starts

Defense will be the main fare for both Letran and San Sebastian on Tuesday when they duel in a KO match for the right to stay alive in the stepladder semifinals of Season 95 of the NCAA basketball tournament at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

The Knights are going to do everything just to restrain the high-scoring Allyn Bulanadi and crafty point guard RK Ilagan, who have been the Stags’ 1-2 punch and the main reasons why San Sebastian made it this far.

San Sebastian, meanwhile, would need to work in unison to bring down its heftier and taller rivals in the 4 p.m. contest.

The winner of this game will advance to face second-ranked Lyceum in another you-or-me showdown for the right to face defending champion San Beda in the finals.

The stepladder phase came into being after the Red Lions, seeking to win this tournament for the third straight year, swept the elimination round and automatically became the first team to make the best-of-three title series.

Jerrick Balanza and Bonbon Batiller have been boldly consistent for the Knights, who ended the 18-game elimination round ranked third.

But the leverage that the Knights must exploit is their advantage in length with a squadron of 6-foot-7 inside operators led by the bulky Larry Muyang and Jeo Ambohot together with rookies Marc Paolo Javillonar and Mark Louie Sangalang.

“We beat them (Knights) in the first round because we were able to work together as one cohesive unit. Team effort will again play a key role in this game,” said San Sebastian coach Egay Macaraya, whose Stags finished fourth in the eliminations.

While generating offense is hardly a problem for the Knights, it is the manner on how they will keep Bulanadi, the league’s top scorer, under control that could spell the difference.