NCAA title tiff: Winner takes it all Friday

PUMPED up and motivated, San Beda and Letran get an extra day to toughen up for their winner-take-all clash for the 88th NCAA basketball title on Friday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Lions grabbed the headstart in the best-of-three series with a narrow 62-60 victory in Game 1, before the Knights bounced back with a masterful 64-55 win in Game 2 last Saturday to set the stage for the ultimate Game 3 clash.

The league originally scheduled the game for Thursday even as the fate of Letran coach Louie Alas and referees’ supervisor Romy Guevarra remained hanging over an altercation near the end of Game 2 last Saturday.

Guevarra, taking offense at the slit-throat gesture of Alas, charged at the Letran coach before cooler heads prevented a serious confrontation between the two.

NCAA tournament commissioner Joe Lipa had asked for a public apology from Alas for his actions in Game 2, but the multititled coach was noncommittal, saying the decision would be up to his family and the Letran community.

“What he did was an insult to the technical committee,” Lipa said of Alas, who was assessed a technical foul in each of the first two games.

The NCAA management committee was still deliberating at press time whether or not to suspend Alas and Guevarra for their actions. Mancom chair Fr. Vic Calvo of Letran and member Jose Mari Lacson of San Beda inhibited themselves from the deliberations.

Game 3 on Friday will be aired live on TV 5.