San Sebastian–Letran rivalry

This rivalry is between Recto's San Sebastian and Muralla's Letran.

School colors of Letran and San Sebastian.

After both Ateneo and La Salle left, San Sebastian (frequently shortened to "Baste") strengthened their basketball program. The acquisition of Paul Alvarez to San Sebastian and Samboy Lim to Letran provided several close games in the 1980s which led to the birth of the rivalry.

In the 1980s, Letranites were notorious for yelling profanities at the San Sebastian players, and on one occasion, led to a rumble at Vito Cruz Avenue when at the last second, a power interruption occurred, causing confusion on what team won the championship. The rumbles between the two schools have become more frequent which solidified the intense rivalry between the two schools.[1] Paul Alvarez would later play for the Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs of the United States Basketball League.[2]

The rivalry continued in the turn of the millennium when the Stags met the Knights in the finals twice. This led to several memorable games in which the Knights won the 1998 edition with a barrage of three-pointers and free throws by Letran's Nicholas Pacheco with a few seconds remaining to win their 13th championship. The Knights also became the first 4th seed to upset the 1st seed in the Final Four when they defeated the Stags twice during the 1999 NCAA Final Four. That feat would soon be duplicated the following year when the 4th seed Stags upended top seed JRC Heavy Bombers in the 2000 NCAA Final Four. The Knights went on to win the 1999 NCAA championship. In the 2003 NCAA Finals, the Stags (defending champs) made a rally in the 4th quarter in the 3rd game of their series and kept Letran scoreless for almost 6 minutes that led them to take the lead but Boyet Bautista started the comeback by tying the game at 48-all and then his teammates Jonathan Piñera and Aaron Aban finished the game to win their 15th championship at the expense of the Stags. In 2004, they renewed their rivalry in the second round of eliminations wherein Letran denied Baste's Final 4 hopes and eventually broke their streak of Final Four appearances (since the inception of the final four format in 1998 San Sebastian is always in the Final Four) making it their worst performance in 6 years.

Head-to-head record by sport

Seniors' Division

General Championship

Letran leads the General Championship race with 9–4.[3]

  • Letran (9) - 1979–80, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2009–10
  • San Sebastian (4) - 1984–85, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1994–95

Juniors' Division

General Championship

Letran leads the general championship race with 7-6.[3]

  • Letran (7) - 1983, 1986, 1987, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
  • San Sebastian (6) - 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

Basketball Statistics

Men's basketball results

Both teams are expected to meet at least 2 times per year.

DateSan SebastianLetranVenueNote/s
October 1, 1987 San Sebastian 91Letran 81Rizal Memorial Coliseum, ManilaFinals Game 1
October 6, 1987San Sebastian 90 Letran 93Rizal Memorial Coliseum, ManilaFinals Game 2
October 9, 1987San Sebastian 62 Letran 63Rizal Memorial Coliseum, ManilaFinals Game 3
1987 San Sebastian 77Letran 73Rizal Memorial Coliseum, ManilaSan Sebastian prevailed over Letran 77–73 preventing a comeback from the Knights which cut the 38–58 SSC lead to a 2-point 71–73 deficit. Paul Alvarez tipped on a miss from a fellow Stag, but Letran's Robert Ruiz split his two free-throws to keep pace with SSC, 72–75. Marlon Bolabola put up a free-throw, then Melchor Teves grabbed the rebound, that led to Crizalde Bade converting two free-throws for SSC off a Jerry Ruiz foul.to put San Sebastian up for good 77–73.
1987 San Sebastian 85Letran 84Rizal Memorial Coliseum, ManilaSan Sebastian defeated Letran 85–84 as Eugene Quilban prevented Jerry Ruiz from catching the ball in a pick-and-roll attempt with 2.7 seconds left. With San Sebastian winning both halves of the elimination round, San Sebastian were named outright champions, their third league championship.
1998San Sebastian 74 Letran 81Rizal Memorial Coliseum, ManilaOT Championship game.
1999San Sebastian 63 Letran 65Semifinals. Letran, the fourth seed, eliminated the top-seeded San Sebastian Stags who had a twice-to-beat advantage.Letran went on to win the championship vs. JRU.
August 6, 2001 San Sebastian 75Letran 63Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
August 27, 2001 San Sebastian 83Letran 62Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
August 5, 2002 San Sebastian 72Letran 62Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
August 19, 2002 San Sebastian 74Letran 59Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
July 14, 2003San Sebastian 64 Letran 73Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
August 29, 2003 San Sebastian 63Letran 61Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
September 17, 2003San Sebastian 73 Letran 89Rizal Memorial Coliseum, ManilaFinals game 1
September 19, 2003 San Sebastian 85Letran 77Rizal Memorial Coliseum, ManilaFinals game 2
September 24, 2003San Sebastian 59 Letran 64Cuneta Astrodome, PasayFinals game 3. Letran ends its 4-year title drought.
July 30, 2004 San Sebastian 72Letran 68Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
September 3, 2004San Sebastian 78 Letran 81Rizal Memorial Coliseum, ManilaSan Sebastian's loss eventually booted them out of the playoffs.
July 4, 2005San Sebastian 65 Letran 78Cuneta Astrodome, PasayLetran had a 2–0 record prior to the game.
August 31, 2005San Sebastian 46 Letran 65Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay
September 9, 2005San Sebastian 60 Letran 93Cuneta Astrodome, PasaySemifinals. Letran went on to win the championship vs. PCU.
July 3, 2006San Sebastian 73 Letran 81Ninoy Aquino Stadium, Manila
August 16, 2006San Sebastian 56 Letran 62Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
July 6, 2007San Sebastian 61 Letran 71The Arena, San JuanLetran had a 2–0 record prior to the game.
August 24, 2007San Sebastian 63 Letran 67The Arena, San Juan
July 16, 2008San Sebastian 67 Letran 71Cuneta Astrodome, PasayLetran had a 3–0 record prior to the game.
August 20, 2008 San Sebastian 76Letran 73Cuneta Astrodome, PasaySan Sebastian end its 9-game losing skid against Letran since 2004.
2009 San Sebastian 77Letran 74Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanSan Sebastian had an 8–0 record prior to the game.
2009San Sebastian 63 Letran 80Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanSan Sebastian had a 15–0 record prior to the game. Letran gave San Sebastian its first loss of the season.
June 26, 2010 San Sebastian 59Letran 53Araneta Coliseum, Quezon CityOpening game.
2010 San Sebastian 59Letran 58Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanSan Sebastian was on a 4-game winning streak prior to the game.
2011 San Sebastian 71Letran 62Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanBoth teams had a 3–0 record prior to the game.
2011San Sebastian 81 Letran 82Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanOT A repeat of season 85, San Sebastian had a 15-0 record prior to the game. Letran gave San Sebastian its first loss of the season.
October 17, 2011San Sebastian 62 Letran 70Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanSemifinals game 1. Letran forces a rubber match.
October 19, 2011 San Sebastian 63Letran 56Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanSemifinals game 2, San Sebastian lost in the Finals vs. San Beda.
June 23, 2012San Sebastian 74 Letran 80Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon CityOpening game.
2012San Sebastian 67 Letran 82Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanSan Sebastian and Letran was on a 4-game and 2-game winning streak respectively prior to the game.
October 13, 2012San Sebastian 74 Letran 92Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon CitySemifinals game 1. Letran forces a rubber match.
October 15, 2012San Sebastian 70 Letran 73Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanSemifinals game 2. Letran lost in the Finals vs. San Beda.
June 22, 2013San Sebastian 69 Letran 74Mall of Asia Arena, PasayOpening game.
2013San Sebastian 68 Letran 75Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanLetran was on a 4-game winning streak prior to the game.
November 7, 2013San Sebastian 58 Letran 85Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanSemifinals . Letran lost in the Finals vs. San Beda.
June 28, 2014 San Sebastian 85Letran 83Mall of Asia Arena, PasayOpening game.
2014San Sebastian 73 Letran 75Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan
July 21, 2015San Sebastian 76 Letran 82Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanLetran had a 3–0 record prior to the game.
August 25, 2015 San Sebastian 89Letran 87Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanSan Sebastian pulled an upset over Letran, who had an 8-1 record prior to the game.
July 19, 2016San Sebastian 77 Letran 90Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan
September 2, 2016San Sebastian 61 Letran 73Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanSan Sebastian was on a 4-game winning streak prior to the game.
August 15, 2017San Sebastian 75 Letran 79Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanOT.
September 26, 2017 San Sebastian 95Letran 64Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan
October 24, 2017 San Sebastian 74Letran 69Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay4th seed-playoff. San Sebastian enters the semifinals for the 1st time since 2013, San Sebastian lost in the semifinals vs. San Beda.
July 20, 2018San Sebastian 76 Letran 83Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan
October 9, 2018San Sebastian 61 Letran 79Filoil Flying V Arena, San Juan
August 20, 2019 San Sebastian 102Letran 101Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanOT.
September 20, 2019San Sebastian 82 Letran 99Filoil Flying V Arena, San JuanLetran ends San Sebastian's 5-game winning streak.
November 5, 2019San Sebastian 80 Letran 85Cuneta Astrodome, PasayStepladder semifinals 1st round. Letran went on to win the championship vs. San Beda

Juniors' Basketball Results
DateSan SebastianLetranVenueNote/s
October 1, 1987 San Sebastian 91Letran 81Rizal Memorial Coliseum, ManilaFinals Game 1

Final Four rankings

For comparison, these are the rankings of these two teams since the Final Four format was introduced.

  Finished as the champion
  Finished as the 1st runner-up
  Finished as the 2nd runner-up
  Finished as the 3rd runner-up

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See also

References
  1. Stags, Knights begin NCAA best-of-three title series today The Manila Times (Google archive). September 17, 2003 issue
  2. Alvarez in listless USBL debut INQ7.net. April 3, 2006
  3. NCAA Philippines - Championships Archived 2010-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
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