DEFENDING champion Letran reached the Promised Land anew and proved untouchable in a tournament held during the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic yesterday.
Leaning on a fiery start and showing poise in the stretches that mattered, the Knights hacked out a 75-65 victory over a game but outclassed Mapua University side in Game 2 of their best-of-3 finals duel for the 97th NCAA basketball tournament crown before a boisterous crowd at The Arena in San Juan.
Rhenz Abando, named Rookie of the Year and season MVP before the match, showed the way for Letran with a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds, PBA-bound Jeo Ambohot backed him up with 13 markers and nine boards. Ambohot, tabbed third overall by Converge in the recent pro league rookie draft, also bagged the finals MVP plum.
Mark Sangalang also had 11 points, 13 rebounds and four assists for the Knights, who scored a fitting follow-up to their 68-63 triumph in the finals opener last Sunday.
Letran wrapped up the race-to-3 title battle 2-0 and annexed their first back-to-back title wins since 1998 and 1999.
The Knights, who completed a 12-0 season sweep, also became the first team to achieve the feat since San Beda University went 16-0 in 2010.
Letran coach Bonnie Tan said his charges did it the hard way.
“Of course, we’re very happy. Playing in the league amidst this pandemic is hard especially after more than two years off. I don’t know if this championship is more fun, but I can say that this championship is harder than the first one,” Tan said.
“All our games were tough, but all the players stepped up. Whatever challenges that God gave to them they’ve overcame it. I’m happy for them,” he added.
The Knights led by as much as 21 early on and 39-23 at the half.
The Cardinals pulled to within 48-58 heading into the payoff period and threatened at 65-70 on a Paolo Hernandez three-pointer at the 2:14 mark of the final stanza.
But Abando doused cold water on Mapua’s last-ditch effort, scoring four straight points that took the fight out of the Cards and to the delight of the Letran faithful.
Hernandez paced Mapua with 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while Rence Nocum had 14 and five.
Brian Lacap and Arvin Gamboa also contributed 12 and 10, respectively, for the Cards, who tried hard but failed in their bid to win it all since 1991.
