NCAA Season 81
Host schoolColegio de San Juan de Letran
Men's Finals G1 G2G3Wins
Letran school colors Letran Knights 74 78622
PCU school colors PCU Dolphins 79 60541
DurationSeptember 19–23, 2005
Arena(s)Araneta Coliseum
Finals MVPBoyet Bautista
Winning coachLouie Alas (3rd title)
SemifinalistsMapua school colors Mapúa Cardinals
SSC-R school colors San Sebastian Stags
TV network(s)Studio 23 and TFC
Juniors' Finals G1 G2Wins
SSC-R school colors San Sebastian Staglets 83 812
San Beda school colors San Beda Red Cubs 76 690
DurationSeptember 19–21, 2005
Arena(s)Araneta Coliseum
Finals MVPEric Salamat
Winning coachRaymond Valenzona
SemifinalistsPCU school colors PCU Baby Dolphins
JRU school colors JRU Light Bombers
TV network(s)Studio 23 and TFC

The NCAA Season 81 basketball tournaments are tournaments of the Philippines' National Collegiate Athletic Association for basketball at the 2005–06 season. The tournaments are divided into two divisions: the Juniors tournament for male high school students, and the Seniors tournament for male college students.

Colegio de San Juan de Letran hosted the season, starting with an opening ceremony held at the Araneta Coliseum on June 25, 2005 followed by a double-header.[1] Games in the elimination rounds and semifinals then are subsequently held at the Cuneta Astrodome, with the Finals played at the Araneta. Men's games are aired lived by ABS-CBN Sports via Studio 23.

Men's tournament

Teams

Team College Coach
Letran Knights Colegio de San Juan de Letran (CSJL) Louie Alas
Benilde Blazers De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde (CSB) Caloy Garcia
JRU Heavy Bombers José Rizal University (JRU) Cris Calilan
Mapúa Cardinals Mapúa Institute of Technology (MIT) Horacio Lim
PCU Dolphins Philippine Christian University (PCU) Junel Baculi
San Beda Red Lions San Beda College (SBC) Nash Racela
Koy Banal
San Sebastian Stags San Sebastian College – Recoletos (SSC-R) Turo Valenzona
Perpetual Altas University of Perpetual Help System DALTA (UPHSD) Bai Cristobal

Coaching changes

Team Outgoing coach Manner of departure Date Replaced by Date
San Beda Red Lions[2] Nash Racela Fired July 27, 2005 Koy Banal July 27, 2005

Elimination round

Team standings

Team standings progression in the senior's basketball tournament.

Pos Team W L PCT GB Qualification
1 Letran school colors Letran Knights (H) 13 1 .929 — Twice-to-beat in the semifinals
2 PCU school colors PCU Dolphins 10 4 .714 3
3 Mapua school colors Mapúa Cardinals 9 5 .643 4 Twice-to-win in the semifinals
4 SSC-R school colors San Sebastian Stags 7 7 .500 6
5 UPHD school colors Perpetual Altas 6 8 .429 7
6 CSB school colors Benilde Blazers 5 9 .357 8
7 San Beda school colors San Beda Red Lions 4 10 .286 9
8 JRU school colors JRU Heavy Bombers 2 12 .143 11
Source: ABS-CBN Sports
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) if tied for top 4, one-game playoff; 3) head-to-head record; 4) head-to-head point differential; 5) overall point differential
(H) Hosts

Match-up results

 Round 1Round 2
Team ╲ Game1234567891011121314
Letran school colors LetranUPHD school colorsSan Beda school colorsSSC-R school colorsJRU school colorsCSB school colorsMapua school colorsPCU school colorsJRU school colorsUPHD school colorsCSB school colorsSan Beda school colorsMapua school colorsSSC-R school colorsPCU school colors
CSB school colors BenildeJRU school colorsUPHD school colorsSan Beda school colorsSSC-R school colorsLetran school colorsPCU school colorsMapua school colorsSSC-R school colorsPCU school colorsMapua school colorsLetran school colorsJRU school colorsSan Beda school colorsUPHD school colors
JRU school colors JRUCSB school colorsMapua school colorsLetran school colorsPCU school colorsUPHD school colorsSan Beda school colorsSSC-R school colorsLetran school colorsMapua school colorsPCU school colorsSSC-R school colorsCSB school colorsUPHD school colorsSan Beda school colors
Mapua school colors MapúaSSC-R school colorsJRU school colorsSan Beda school colorsUPHD school colorsPCU school colorsLetran school colorsCSB school colorsUPHD school colorsJRU school colorsCSB school colorsSan Beda school colorsLetran school colorsPCU school colorsSSC-R school colors
PCU school colors PCUSan Beda school colorsSSC-R school colorsUPHD school colorsJRU school colorsMapua school colorsCSB school colorsLetran school colorsSan Beda school colorsCSB school colorsJRU school colorsUPHD school colorsSSC-R school colorsMapua school colorsLetran school colors
San Beda school colors San BedaPCU school colorsLetran school colorsCSB school colorsMapua school colorsSSC-R school colorsJRU school colorsUPHD school colorsPCU school colorsSSC-R school colorsLetran school colorsMapua school colorsUPHD school colorsCSB school colorsJRU school colors
SSC-R school colors San SebastianMapua school colorsPCU school colorsLetran school colorsCSB school colorsSan Beda school colorsUPHD school colorsJRU school colorsCSB school colorsSan Beda school colorsUPHD school colorsJRU school colorsPCU school colorsLetran school colorsMapua school colors
UPHD school colors PerpetualLetran school colorsCSB school colorsPCU school colorsMapua school colorsJRU school colorsSSC-R school colorsSan Beda school colorsMapua school colorsLetran school colorsSSC-R school colorsPCU school colorsSan Beda school colorsJRU school colorsCSB school colors
Source:
  = Win;   = OT win;   = Loss;   = OT loss

Scores

Results on top and to the right of the dashes are for first-round games; those to the bottom and to the left of it are second-round games.

Teams CSJL CSB JRU MIT PCU SBC SSC-R UPHSD
Letran Knights — 65–45 65–50 69–67 70–64* 63–54 78–65 63–54
Benilde Blazers 67–79 — 79–47 64–66 49–63 65–55 63–67 55–45
JRU Heavy Bombers 58–63 58–70 — 52–66 51–68 44–71 67–55 42–59
Mapúa Cardinals 71–66 75–63 43–51 — 49–57 62–53 81–70 67–62
PCU Dolphins 59–63 62–58 67–51 66–57 — 68–50 72–70 54–40
San Beda Red Lions 58–68 86–91* 57–56 59–60 78–72 — 74–77 63–68
San Sebastian Stags 46–65 63–49 65–60 72–100 81–75 63–69 — 76–75*
Perpetual Altas 51–59 63–55 62–48 67–40 51–57 66–60 58–64 —
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
Legend: Blue = left column team win; Red = top row team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Postseason teams

  • Letran Knights

The Knights had an amazing streak of eleven straight wins right from opening day. The streak was threatened when they faced fellow unbeaten team, the PCU Dolphins, at the end of the first round. Both sporting 6-0 records, the game went into overtime, and Boyet Bautista and John Paul Alcaraz saved the day for the Knights beat the Dolphins resulting a first round sweep.

The streak ended when the Mapua Cardinals, led by the former All-Canadian Kelvin dela Peña beat the Knights as Letran failed to stop dela Peña and collapsed at the end game.(If Letran won that 2nd round game against Mapua, the Knights could have already scored a 14-0 sweep of the eliminations) The Knights recovered as they blew out the Stags, and swept the regular season series vs. PCU in the season finale.[3]

  • PCU Dolphins

The defending champions PCU Dolphins also had their own 6-0 streak, beating Mapua and CSB. But it was ended by Letran (see above) in a tight contest.

Then came the shock loss against the San Beda Red Lions under San Beda's debuting coach Koy Banal. The Dolphins bounced back, beating last year's runner-up UPHSD Altas. However, PCU was defeated by the San Sebastian Stags in their second round rematch. On the next game, they clinched the twice to beat advantage when they beat Mapua. However, they failed to beat Letran in the regular season.[3]

  • Mapua Cardinals

The Mapua Cardinals had their best start in fourteen years as they boasted a 4-0 card. But losses against defending champions PCU Dolphins and Intramuros arch rivals Letran dropped their record to 4-2. A buzzer-beater by Neil Pascual off a Kelvin dela Peña pass against the CSB Blazers kept their Final Four hopes alive. But successive loses against underachievering teams Perpetual Altas and JRU Heavy Bombers put the Final Four aspirations in doubt.

After successive wins against the San Beda Red Lions and CSB Blazers, the Cardinals found confidence in their game, and they beat the then undefeated Letran Knights under the heroics of Kelvin dela Peña and Joferson Gonzales. PCU defeated them again in the eliminations, depriving the Cardinals for a twice to beat advantage in the semis. Mapua bounced back and scored a victory against the Stags.[3] (It can be said that if the Cardinals have beaten the Bombers and the Altas, then they would have been seeded as second, armed with a twice-to-beat advantage in the Semifinals and could've been in the Finals.)

  • San Sebastian Stags

After failing to enter the Final Four for the first time since its inception in 1998, the Stags are itching to bring back the glory to their school. With 2003 NCAA MVP Leomar Najorda and Redentor Vicente, the Stags look poised to barge back into the Final Four. But with a disappointing 0-3 start, the Stags needed to win against the then undefeated CSB Blazers (3-0). Under the exploits of Najorda and Vicente, the Stags won the game.

The rest of season was a roller-coaster ride, with San Sebastian winning games against weaker teams. But a win against the PCU Dolphins finally sealed their Final Four appearance.[3]

Bracket

Semifinals
(Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage)		Finals
(Best-of-three series)
1Letran school colors Letran 93
4SSC-R school colors San Sebastian60
1Letran school colors Letran 747862
2PCU school colors PCU796054
2PCU school colors PCU76
3Mapua school colors Mapúa53

Semifinals

Letran and PCU have the twice-to-beat advantage. They only have to win once, while their opponents, twice, to progress.

(1) Letran vs. (4) San Sebastian

September 9
2:00 p.m.
Letran Knights Letran school colors 93–60 SSC-R school colors San Sebastian Stags
Scoring by quarter: 23-13, 12-17, 26-24, 32-6
Pts: Aaron Aban 21 Pts: Redentor Vicente 21
Letran wins series in one game

The Knights, which had previously routed the Stags in their two elimination round games, dealt their opponents a 32–6 fourth quarter run that blew the game wide open and eliminated San Sebastian from championship contention. The Knights qualified for their second Finals stint in three years.[4]

(2) PCU vs. (3) Mapua

September 9
4:00 p.m.
PCU Dolphins PCU school colors 76–53 Mapua school colors Mapúa Cardinals
Scoring by quarter: 23-10, 13-19, 11-18, 29-6
Pts: Robert Sanz 24 Pts: Kelvin dela Peña 25
PCU wins series in one game

With the game tied 49–all at the start of the fourth quarter, the Dolphins staged a 21–2 with last year's Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Rob Sanz scoring key three-pointers to erect a 72–51 advantage at the final two minutes. The defending champions qualified for their second consecutive Finals stint, against Letran, whom they eliminated the previous year in the semifinals in two games.[4]

Finals

Letran and PCU started their two-year rivalry in the 2004 tournament, when the Dolphins eliminated the Knights in the do-or-die semifinal game that went into overtime via former Knight Ronjay Enrile's flubbed freethrows. The Dolphins then beat 2004's first seed UPHDS Altas in two games, taking their first NCAA seniors basketball title.

September 19
4:00 p.m.
Letran Knights Letran school colors 74–79 PCU school colors PCU Dolphins
September 21
4:00 p.m.
Letran Knights Letran school colors 78–60 PCU school colors PCU Dolphins
September 23
3:00 p.m.
Letran Knights Letran school colors 62–54 PCU school colors PCU Dolphins
Scoring by quarter: 23-18, 15-11, 5-12, 19-13
Pts: 3 players, 13 each Pts: Gabby Espinas 15
Letran wins series, 2–1

Trailing 65–70 late in Game 1 when Gabby Espinas fouled out, Jayson Castro and Sanz each had a three-pointer in the deciding 11–0 PCU run to put the Dolphins ahead, 76–70 with less than five minutes left. After Jonathan Alvade made a field-goal to cut the lead to three at 74–77, the Dolphins defense prevented another Letran scoring opportunity the rest of the way as they held on to stun the Knights, which had only one loss in the season prior to the game.[5]

In an elimination game for Letran, they scored 25 points in the second quarter to erect a 44–33 lead at halftime. They increased their lead to a commanding 54–33 lead after preventing the Dolphins from scoring in the first five minutes of the third quarter. The Dolphins will cut the lead to fourteen, but that was the nearest they were able to get as the Knights tied the series to force a deciding Game 3.[6]

Letran and PCU were locked in a tight contest at the first quarter, although the Dolphins never led; Letran's Boyet Bautista hit a running three-pointer at the end of the first quarter to prevent the Dolphins from getting close. In the second quarter, Letran twice led by as many as ten points, but the Dolphins limited the Knights to 5 points and a single field-goal to cut Letran's lead. PCU would eventually stare at a 43–41 deficit at the start of the fourth quarter, but Bautista scored on a lay-up that prevent further PCU incursions as the Knights cruised to the victory, and their second championship in three years. Bautista would be named as Finals MVP as he led Letran to their 16th men's basketball title.[7]

Awards

 NCAA Season 81 men's basketball champions 
Letran school colors
Letran Knights
16th title

In what was billed as one of the league's closest and most interesting MVP races, former volleyball star Ernie Jay Sagad won MVP honors, defeating last year's MVP and Rookie of the Year Gabby Espinas.[8]

  • Most Valuable Player:Ernie Jay Sagad (Benilde Blazers)
  • Mythical Five:
    • Ernie Jay Sagad (Benilde Blazers)
    • Gabby Espinas (PCU Dolphins)
    • Khiel Misa (Perpetual Altas)
    • Jerome Paterno (San Beda Red Lions)
    • Redentor Vicente (San Sebastian Stags)
  • Rookie of the Year: Kelvin dela Peña (Mapúa Cardinals)
  • Defensive Player of the Year: Gabby Espinas (PCU Dolphins)
  • Most Improved Player of the Year: Aaron Aban (Letran Knights)

NCAA Players of the Week

Starting on the 2005-06 Season, the NCAA Press Corps has awarded the NCAA Player of the Week award to the most outstanding basketball player in a given week.

Juniors' tournament

Elimination round

Pos Team W L PCT GB Qualification
1 SSC-R school colors San Sebastian Staglets 11 1 .917 — Twice-to-beat in the semifinals
2 San Beda school colors San Beda Red Cubs 10 2 .833 1
3 PCU school colors PCU Baby Dolphins 7 5 .583[lower-alpha 1] 4 Twice-to-win in the semifinals
4 JRU school colors JRU Light Bombers 7 5 .583[lower-alpha 1] 4
5 CSB school colors La Salle Green Hills Greenies 5 7 .417 6
6 UPHD school colors Perpetual Altalettes 2 10 .167 9
7 Letran school colors Letran Squires[lower-alpha 2] (H) 0 12 .000 11
Source: ABS-CBN Sports
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) if tied for top 4, one-game playoff; 3) head-to-head record; 4) head-to-head point differential; 5) overall point differential
(H) Hosts
Notes:
  1. 1 2 Third-seed playoff: PCU 96–90 JRU
  2. ↑ All of Letran's wins were forfeited when a player was found to have played in a ligang labas game.

Third-seed playoff

Bracket

Semifinals
(Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage)		Finals
(Best-of-three series)
1SSC-R school colors San Sebastian95
4JRU school colors JRU82
1SSC-R school colors San Sebastian8381
2San Beda school colors San Beda7669
2San Beda school colors San Beda80
3PCU school colors PCU73

Semifinals

(1) San Sebastian vs. (4) JRU

September 14
San Sebastian Staglets SSC-R school colors 95–82 JRU school colors JRU Light Bombers
San Sebastian wins series in one game

(2) San Beda vs. PCU

September 14
San Beda Red Cubs San Beda school colors 80–73 PCU school colors PCU Baby Dolphins
San Beda wins series in one game

Finals

September 21
San Sebastian Staglets SSC-R school colors 81–69 San Beda school colors San Beda Red Cubs
San Sebastian wins series, 2–0
  • Finals Most Valuable Player: Eric Salamat (San Sebastian Staglets)

Awards

 NCAA Season 81 juniors' basketball champions 
SSC-R school colors
San Sebastian Staglets
Second title
  • Most Valuable Player: Allan Mangahas (PCU Baby Dolphins)
  • Rookie of the Year: Darell Green (Letran Squires)
  • Mythical Five:
    • Allan Mangahas (PCU Baby Dolphins)
    • Darell Green (Letran Squires)
    • John Derico Lopez (JRU Light Bombers)
    • Borgie Hermida (San Beda Red Cubs)
    • Paul Lee (San Sebastian Staglets)
  • Defensive Player of the Year: Darell Green (Letran Squires)
  • Most Improved Player of the Year: Paolo Guidaben (San Sebastian Staglets)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Calapre, Frank (June 26, 2005). "Dolphins whip Lions". The Manila Times.
  2. ↑ Villar, Joey. "Koy Banal replaces Racela as Red Lions coach". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2023-10-05.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Menor, Dominic (2005-09-03). "Cardinals claim No. 3 spot". Manila Bulletin. findarticles.com. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  4. 1 2 Menor, Dominic (2005-09-09). "Letran, PCU set showdown". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  5. ↑ Menor, Dominic (2005-09-20). "PCU shocks Letran in Game 1". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  6. ↑ Menor, Dominic (2005-09-22). "Letran ties series with easy win". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  7. ↑ Menor, Dominic (2005-09-24). "ARRIBA LETRAN; Knights beat Dolphins to win NCAA championship". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  8. ↑ Menor, Dominic (2005-09-20). "Benilde's Sagad is MVP". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
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