Ronnie's Roaring Red Lions

Ronnie Magsanoc wants to cherish every moment of his San Beda Red Lions’ recent victory in the 88th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament unmindful of next season’s cage wars, even if his team will lose three key players that were instrumental in their successful run in the last seven years.

Magsanoc and his Red Lions are still on a high after a 67-39 demolition of the Letran Knights in the deciding Game Three of the 88th NCAA men’s basketball finals last Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

"I know we’ll be losing three players, but we’re not yet thinking of what will happen next season. All we know is that we ended this season as champions,” said Magsanoc after the rookie coach guided San Beda to its sixth title in seven years and 17th overall men’s basketball crown to earn the bragging rights of being the league’s most successful program.

Anjo Caram, who scored 17 points for San Beda, along with Jake Pascual and Melo Lim played their final game in the country’s collegiate league.

"I’m just thankful, to the players, Red Lions, Red Cubs, and all San Beda supporters. We were able to rebound after our Game Two loss. Still, Letran is a very tough team to beat. They were hungry, led by a very good coach, and made a difficult run reaching the finals,” said Magsanoc, who clinched his first title as a coach and ninth overall in his entire basketball career.

Magsanoc has won three titles while playing in the Philippine Basketball Association, two as an assistant coach of the Meralco Bolts, one in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, and two more in the NCAA as a member of Ato Badolato’s San Beda Red Cubs.

On the other side of the bench, Letran coach Louie Alas, himself a multi-titled mentor, was left wondering what happened to the Knights in the final match of the season.

Alas, following that 28-point blowout loss, has decided to leave Letran ending a season where the Knights are one game away from completing a Cinderella-like finish after almost failing to clinch a Final Four berth.

"I’ll be resting for a while and maybe just focus on farming,” Alas said jokingly to sportswriters after the game. “But it’s time to move on. I have already informed my players when I talked to them in our dugout. I’ll be here until December and I’ll make sure everything is okay before I leave Letran.”

It was indeed a season of what-could-have-been and what-ifs for Alas as his Letran crew battled back from a 4-5 record to finish third after the elimination round and faced twice-to-beat San Sebastian in the Final Four.

The Knights overcame the Stags’ edge to set up a thrilling championship match-up with the Red Lions, reviving an old rivalry that started in the 1950s. San Beda escaped with a 64-62 win in the finals opener but Letran forced the rubber match after a 64-55 decision in Game Two.

Everyone following the series expects a close game. But half of the 18,187 crowds that witnessed the game fell silent as San Beda had a fire in their eyes and was relentless all game long. The Red Lions broke away early using an 18-2 exchange bridging the first and second quarters to enjoy a 24-10 lead.

The Knights never recovered after that and the closest that they could get was at 23-34, behind Mark Cruz’s back-to-back baskets and a brilliant set-up job to big man Jam Cortes with still eight minutes and 13 seconds left in the third.

It was an all San Beda show after that, as the Red Lions pulled further away with the lead standing at its highest at 31, 62-31, three minutes left in the game.

“(I am) sorry for Letran, it has been a long season. San Beda played their best game and we played our worst. Credit goes to San Beda, they deserve to be the champions,” said a visibly-tired Alas.

“I told my players two days ago to expect San Beda to come out really aggressive. It showed in this game, that they are attacking our defense in their every possession. We just failed to match their intensity. We’re just not destined to be champions.”

Baser Amer, San Beda’s sophomore guard who backed up Caram with 14 points, was named the Finals Most Valuable Player.

Mark Cruz paced the Knights with 12 points while Kevin Alas finished with 11 on 5-of-21 shooting from the field, and 0-of-10 from downtown.