Squires, Junior Altas begin NCAA title showdown

Game Saturday
(Filoil EcoOil Arena)
9:30 a.m. – UPHSD vs Letran

MANILA, Philippines – It will be championship experience versus hunger as Letran and University of Perpetual Help battle it out for the NCAA Season 99 junior basketball crown starting Saturday at the Filoil EcoOil Arena.

The Squires will come in as underdogs after finishing second to the Junior Altas and losing to the latter, 94-88, in the elimination round last March 1 but should rely on their championship experience when they clash at 9:30 a.m.

Game 2 is set Wednesday while a decider, if necessary, is next week.

Also, Letran, which downed San Sebastian, 91-77, in the Final Four Sunday, is eyeing a 14th juniors crown overall that will keep it at No. 3 in titles won behind San Beda’s 23 and Mapua’s 20.

Moses Manalili parted the red sea for the Squires in that finals berth-clinching win after he flirted with a triple-double before finishing with 19 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.

For the Junior Altas, they are expected to go all out to quench the title thirst they long have and claim their breakthrough high school cage crown.

The last time UPHSD came closest to winning its first ever title was 14 years ago when former coach and now league commissioner Tonichi Pujante steered it to the finals before being denied by San Beda.

Now they’re back again with another shot at it.

UPHSD made it through by topping the elims with an 8-1 mark when nobody expected it and turning back Mapua, 96-91, to extend its fairy tale run.