NCAA Season 85 Junior Champs: San Beda Red Cubs

The San Beda Red Cubs won its 17th juniors title overall after beating the Letran Squires and completed their mission winning the 85th NCAA junior’s basketball championship.

It was a hard fought ball game as the Letran Squires forces this winner take all match, but failed to snatch the championship.

Arthur Dela Cruz and Baser Amer led the way for the Red Cubs including some clutch plays and cruised to an 86-75 win over Letran in their winner-take-all contest Thursday at The Arena in San Juan City.

It was an emotional win for the San Beda Red Cubs as they gave the last championship for their retiring legendary head coach Ato Badolato to concentrate on his job as the school’s Athletic Director.

Arthur Dela Cruz son of former PBA player and now PBA assistant coach Art Dela Cruz had a monstrous game with 23 points including 8 points in the crucial 4th period. Baser Amer backed him up with 21 markers.

Meanwhile, the sensational scoring machine of Letran Squires Jarelan Tampus scored a game high 36 points but his efforts were not enough to win the championship. Part of Letran’s loss is the fact that their second scoring option and the high flying power forward Glenn Khobuntin sprained his ankle midway of the third quarter and never came back on the game. He finished the game with 10 points.

Former Red Cubs like RP team under-16 coach Eric Altamirano, Smart Gilas Pilipinas standout JV Casio, Jenkins Mesina, Ford Arao, Yuri Escueta, Xavier Nunag, Mike Bravo, Arvie Braganza and Mike Baldos watched the game to pay tribute to Badolato, who helped mold their respective basketball careers.

The Scores:

San Beda 86 - Dela Cruz 23, Amer 21, Abatayo 15, Ludovice 12, Gotladera 7, Javier 4, Moralde 2, Chavez 2, Sara 0.

Letran 75 - Tampus 36, Cruz 14, Khobuntin 10, Inigo 5, Ongteco 5, Cudal 3, Cabigas 2, Maravilla 0, So 0.

Quarter scores: 17-19; 47-34; 67-60; 86-75.

photo by Jan Dizon | ncaa.org.ph