San_Beda–Letran_rivalry
The San Beda–Letran rivalry is a multiple sport competition between two Philippine schools. This rivalry is between Mendiola's San Beda and Muralla's Letran. The rivalry is played at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines).
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Sport | Men's basketball |
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Latest meeting | November 24, 2023 (Filoil EcoOil Centre, San Juan) San Beda, 77–68 |
Next meeting | TBA |
Statistics | |
All-time record | NCAA Final Four (Philippines) appearances
Titles
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Longest win streak | San Beda, 15 (2007–2012) |
Current win streak | San Beda, 4 (2022–present) |
Seniors' Division
As of October 2016, the San Beda Red Lions have more collegiate championships in the seniors' division compared to the Letran Knights. San Beda has 112 seniors' collegiate championships while Letran has 94. Letran leads the General Championships Tally with 9 titles with San Beda having 7.
San Beda leads Letran 9–4 in different all-time sports categories.
- Badminton – San Beda (3) – Letran (2)
- Basketball – San Beda (22) – Letran (20)
- Beach Volleyball – Letran (3) – San Beda (2)
- Chess – Letran (6) – San Beda (3)
- Football – San Beda (24) – Letran (7)
- Lawn Tennis – San Beda (16) – Letran (11)
- Soft Tennis – San Beda (5) – Letran (none)
- Softball – San Beda (3) – Letran (1)
- Swimming – San Beda (32) – Letran (2)
- Table Tennis – San Beda (15) – Letran (12)
- Taekwondo – San Beda (10) – Letran (6)
- Track and Field – Letran (6) – San Beda (none)
- Volleyball – Letran (22) – San Beda (none)
Both schools have yet to win collegiate championships in cheerleading.
General Championship
Letran leads the General Championship race with 9–7.
- Letran (9) – 1979–80, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2009–10
- San Beda (7) – 2010–11, 2011–2012, 2012–2013, 2015–16, 2016–2017, 2017–18, 2018–19
Juniors' Division
As of October 2016, the San Beda Red Cubs leads the rivalry in the juniors' division with 102 championships while the Letran Squires has 70 championships. The Red Cubs also lead the general championships tally with 14 compared to the Squires' 8 general championships.
San Beda leads Letran 6–5 in different all-time sports categories.
- Basketball – San Beda (23) – Letran (13)
- Beach Volleyball – Letran (1) – San Beda (none)
- Chess – Letran (13) – San Beda (5)
- Football – San Beda (16) – Letran (5)
- Lawn Tennis – San Beda (16) – Letran (7)
- Softball – San Beda (2) – Letran (none)
- Swimming – San Beda (22) – Letran (2)
- Table Tennis – Letran (17) – San Beda (6)
- Taekwondo – Letran (3) – San Beda (1)
- Track and Field – San Beda (8) – Letran (6)
- Volleyball – Letran (5) – San Beda (4)
General Championship
San Beda leads the General Championship race with 14–8.[1]
- San Beda (14) – 1982, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
- Letran (8) – 1983, 1986, 1987, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Men's basketball results
The rivalry started on October 28, 1950, when Letran and San Beda meet in the finals for the first time. Letran then was led by Lauro Mumar while San Beda was led by Carlos Loyzaga. Letran is on the verge of sweeping the tournament to become eventual champions (the Final 4 format was not yet implemented), but San Beda beat them to arrange a championship showdown with the Knights. In the finals, Letran got their sweet revenge as they beat San Beda to get their second title in the NCAA. The Letran team was called "Murder Inc." by the late Willie Hernandez because of their merciless brand of basketball. After that historic match, San Beda kept on winning many championships until the 1970s while Letran ended the 1970s with six championships. During the 1980s the NCAA saw the downfall of the San Beda basketball program while Letran peaked and became a powerhouse team.
The final four was instituted in 1997;[2][3] prior to that the first and second round winners, plus the team with the best overall standing if it did not win either round, participated in the championship round to determine the champion.
With the exit of their fierce rivals, Ateneo for San Beda and La Salle for Letran, some say the rivalry has died down because of their heaven and earth situation not until in 2006 when the Lions won their 12th championship after 28 years. During that same year San Beda won twice against Letran and denied the Knights to gain a twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four.
In 2007, San Beda and Letran played for the championship for the second time which was dubbed "The Dream Finals" because it featured two NCAA teams who have very rich basketball history and tradition. In this series, San Beda had a championship score to settle with Letran (to avenge their defeat in the finals 57 years prior). The Red Lions eventually swept the Knights, 2–0. San Beda's Rogemar Menor was named as the 2007 NCAA Finals MVP. Right now they are the most anticipated games in the NCAA which led to bringing the games at the Araneta Coliseum. They are also compared to UAAP's Ateneo–La Salle where in some columnists say it is the "icing in the cake" of today's NCAA.
Pre-Final Four era
San Beda victories | Letran victories |
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Final Four era
Both teams are expected to meet at least 2 times per year.
San Beda victories | Letran victories |
- Notes
- Finals Game 2. San Beda successfully defends their title. Letran's 1st defeat in the finals since the 1980s and under Coach Louie Alas.
- San Beda's Borgie Hermida shoots the winning shot with just 2 seconds left in OT. San Beda then went on to win their third consecutive championship title.
- Finals Game 3. San Beda won its 18th Championship Title; Arthur dela Cruz was declared as the Finals MVP of NCAA Season 89.
- Finals Game 1. Letran dealt San Beda's 1st Game 1 loss of the Finals since 2015 at the same time its 1st loss of the season after sweeping the regular season thus ending San Beda's 32-game winning streak dating back from last season and also Letran snapped its 8-game losing skid against San Beda since 2016.
- First San Beda-Letran NCAA game since the COVID-19 pandemic. Letran had an 8–0 record prior to the game. Letran swept the single-round elimination.
- Letran was on a 9-game winning streak prior to the game.
Juniors' Basketball Results
Pre-Final Four era
San Beda victories | Letran victories |
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Final Four era
Since 2007, San Beda leads the rivalry 28–7 but if the game on July 21, 2010, favored San Beda, San Beda will still be the leader of the rivalry but with a better record of 29–6.
San Beda victories | Letran victories |
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- Notes
- San Beda swept both the first and second round pennant. Needing to win to force a playoff for the second-round pennant, the Light Bombers fell short to the Red Cubs at the final game of the second round when John Henry Reyes split his free throw at the final seconds of the game, giving San Beda a 1-point 92–91 victory.
- This is a de facto best of three series with San Beda automatically leading 1–0. Therefore, San Beda has to win once, while Letran needed twice, to win the championship. San Beda was in command for most of Game 1, but Letran refused to lose and then took the lead, 90–88. San Beda then tied the game 93–all, thanks to Ford Arao's two free throws, 47 seconds remaining in the final period. In the next play, OJ Cua gave the lead again to the Squires, 95–93. Both teams split their charities in the final seconds, when Squire Marlon Bituin grabbed the miss from the other team, giving the Red Cubs their first loss of the season and sealing the victory for the Squires.
- The Red Cubs claimed their 11th NCAA juniors championship in the deciding Game 2, thanks to JVee Casio and Arvin Braganza's outside shooting and Jay Agbayani's inside presence.
- Game forfeited due to the wrong uniform of San Beda's player, Baser Amer.
Final Four Rankings
For comparison, these are the rankings of these two teams since the Final Four format was introduced.
Seniors' division
Juniors' division
Team ╲ Year | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023[lower-alpha 2] |
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San Beda | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | C | C | 2 | 5 | |
Letran | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 2 |
Legend
* Number denotes playoff seeding. Shade denotes final position.
Finished as the champion
Finished as the 1st runner-up
Finished as semifinalist
Lost in 4th-seed playoff
Twice to beat advantage
C Tournament cancelled
- Notes
- 2021-22 season was played in early 2022 and the tournament was held in into a round robin tournament instead of the usual double round eliminations.
- 2023-24 season was played in early 2024 and the tournament was held in into a round robin tournament instead of the usual double round eliminations.
- NCAA Philippines – Championships Archived 2010-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
- Gulle, Jimbo (October 1, 1997). "Red Lions nip Cards for NCAA 'Final 4'". Manila Standard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- Gulle, Jimbo (September 26, 1997). "Stags post 11th straight win; Cards triumph". Manila Standard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
- "NCAA Season 95 Schedule and Results". Retrieved 8 November 2023.
- "San Beda adds to Letran's woes; LPU survives Arellano in OT to stay unbeaten". Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- Micaller, Bea (24 November 2023). "NCAA: Jacob Cortez comes up clutch as San Beda denies Letran". GMA Integrated News. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- "Squires junior champs". Manila Standard.
- Franco, Marco (September 18, 2002). "Letran Squires force winner-take-all". ABS-CBN Pinoy Central. Archived from the original on December 21, 2002. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- Franco, Marco (September 20, 2002). "San Beda Red Cubs win juniors crown". ABS-CBN Pinoy Central. Archived from the original on December 10, 2002. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
- Micaller, Bea (February 16, 2024). "Cañete, Medroso catch fire as San Beda Red Cubs upset Letran Squires". GMA Integrated News. Retrieved February 20, 2024.