NCAA Season 82 basketball tournaments

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NCAA Season 82
NCAA Season 82 title card.png
Host schoolDe La Salle-College of Saint Benilde
Men's Finals 1 23Wins
San Beda school colors San Beda Red Lions 71 50682
PCU school colors PCU Dolphins 57 72671
DurationSeptember 18 to 22
Arena(s)Araneta Coliseum
Finals MVPYousif Aljamal
Winning coachKoy Banal
SemifinalistsLetran school colors Letran Knights
Mapua school colors Mapúa Cardinals
TV network(s)Studio 23 and TFC
Juniors' Finals 1 2Wins
PCU school colors PCU Baby Dolphins 55 410
SSC-R school colors San Sebastian Staglets 57 652
DurationSeptember 18 to 20
Arena(s)Araneta Coliseum
Finals MVPRyan Buenafe
Winning coach
SemifinalistsSan Beda school colors San Beda Red Cubs
JRU school colors JRU Light Bombers
TV network(s)Studio 23 and TFC
< Season 81 2006 Season 83 >

The NCAA Season 82 basketball tournaments are the tournaments of the Philippines National Collegiate Athletic Association for basketball at the 2006–07 season. The tournaments are divided into two divisions: the Juniors tournament for male high school students, and the Seniors tournament for male college students.

Losing only one game against the PCU Dolphins, the San Beda Red Lions only suffered one loss to finish first in the elimination round. San Beda's Nigerian center won Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors. PCU and the Letran Knights were tied for second place; the Dolphins won the second-place playoff to seize the #2 seed and the twice-to-beat advantage. San Beda dispatched fourth-seed Mapua Cardinals in the semifinals, and the Dolphins qualified to the Finals for the third consecutive time by beating the Knights in their own semifinal. The Red Lions and the Dolphins exchanged blowout wins in the first two games of the Finals; in the deciding third game, San Beda won their first NCAA men's basketball championship since 1978, Yousif Aljamal was named Finals MVP.

In the juniors division, the San Sebastian Staglets swept the San Beda Red Cubs, 2-0, to take their second title, as Ryan Buenafe won Finals MVP honors.

Seniors' tournament[]

Preseason events[]

Former UP Fighting Maroons basketball player and Philippine Basketball Association commissioner Jun Bernardino assumes the role of basketball commissioner for the season.[1]

On a report published on June 12, it was reported that JRU Heavy Bombers coach Cris Calilan, part of the 1972 champion team (JRU's last championship) resigned from the team and took most of the players with him.[2]

To prevent allegations of game-fixing, the Management Committee asked for the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to thwart efforts of such activities.[3]

All of the elimination round games after Opening Day will be held at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex at Manila.[4]

New coaches are Raymund Valenzona of the San Sebastian Stags, and Ariel Vanguardia of JRU. Valenzona is a son of retired coach Arturo Valenzona, while Vanguardia who was tasked to replace former coach Cris Calilan, who left the team. San Beda Red Lions coach Koy Banal would be on his first full season as coach of the Red Lions.[5]

On June 22, PCU Dolphins head coach Junel Baculi resigned due to health reasons. He will be replaced by Joel Dualan on an acting capacity.[6] Management Committee (MANCOM) chairman Bernardo Atienza of CSB clarified on an interview broadcast during the opening ceremonies that a rumoured seven-game suspension for Baculi for using indecent language in a PCU game on a tune-up league was untrue.

Elimination round[]

Team standings progression in the senior's basketball tournament.
Pos Team W L PCT GB Qualification
1 San Beda school colors San Beda Red Lions 13 1 .929 — Twice-to-beat in the semifinals
2 PCU school colors PCU Dolphins 10 4 .714[a] 3
3 Letran school colors Letran Knights 10 4 .714[a] 3 Twice-to-win in the semifinals
4 Mapua school colors Mapúa Cardinals 7 7 .500 6
5 UPHD school colors Perpetual Altas 5 9 .357 8
6 SSC-R school colors San Sebastian Stags 4 10 .286 9
7 JRU school colors JRU Heavy Bombers 4 10 .286 9
8 CSB school colors Benilde Blazers (H) 3 11 .214 10
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 goal average; 5) overall point differential
(H) Host
Notes:
  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Second-seed playoff: PCU 67–62 Letran

NBI agents were present in the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, monitoring the basketball games. Rumours still persist that there were still efforts of game fixing in the games. The suspects "resurfaced" during the first round game between the Blazers and the Heavy Bombers, the day where the agents were supposedly absent.[7]

Results[]

 Round 1Round 2
Team ╲ Game1234567891011121314
Letran school colors LetranCSB school colorsSSC-R school colorsJRU school colorsPCU school colorsUPHD school colorsMapua school colorsSan Beda school colorsCSB school colorsUPHD school colorsJRU school colorsSSC-R school colorsMapua school colorsPCU school colorsSan Beda school colors
CSB school colors BenildeLetran school colorsUPHD school colorsSan Beda school colorsSSC-R school colorsMapua school colorsJRU school colorsPCU school colorsLetran school colorsPCU school colorsSan Beda school colorsMapua school colorsSSC-R school colorsUPHD school colorsJRU school colors
JRU school colors JRUSan Beda school colorsLetran school colorsPCU school colorsUPHD school colorsCSB school colorsSSC-R school colorsMapua school colorsSan Beda school colorsMapua school colorsLetran school colorsPCU school colorsUPHD school colorsSSC-R school colorsCSB school colors
Mapua school colors MapúaPCU school colorsSSC-R school colorsSan Beda school colorsUPHD school colorsCSB school colorsLetran school colorsJRU school colorsSSC-R school colorsJRU school colorsUPHD school colorsCSB school colorsLetran school colorsSan Beda school colorsPCU school colors
PCU school colors PCUMapua school colorsSan Beda school colorsSSC-R school colorsUPHD school colorsJRU school colorsLetran school colorsCSB school colorsUPHD school colorsCSB school colorsSSC-R school colorsJRU school colorsSan Beda school colorsLetran school colorsMapua school colors
San Beda school colors San BedaJRU school colorsPCU school colorsCSB school colorsMapua school colorsSSC-R school colorsUPHD school colorsLetran school colorsJRU school colorsSSC-R school colorsCSB school colorsUPHD school colorsPCU school colorsMapua school colorsLetran school colors
SSC-R school colors San SebastianUPHD school colorsMapua school colorsPCU school colorsLetran school colorsCSB school colorsSan Beda school colorsJRU school colorsMapua school colorsSan Beda school colorsPCU school colorsLetran school colorsCSB school colorsJRU school colorsUPHD school colors
UPHD school colors PerpetualSSC-R school colorsCSB school colorsPCU school colorsMapua school colorsJRU school colorsLetran school colorsSan Beda school colorsPCU school colorsLetran school colorsMapua school colorsSan Beda school colorsJRU school colorsSSC-R school colorsCSB school colors
Source:[citation needed]
  = 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 — 65–44 74–70 74–71 62–54 59–67 81–73 60–48
Benilde Blazers 63–71 — 70–72 74–79 61–66 57–71 85–89 79–76
JRU Heavy Bombers 55–70 68–69 — 59–64 77–81 51–81 86–95 77–78
Mapúa Cardinals 54–49 60–42 69–73 — 47–42 55–69 68–76 68–54
PCU Dolphins 59–48 79–70 63–65 75–65 — 70–66 74–72 66–63
San Beda Red Lions 54–43 55–48* 84–69 73–56 73–64 — 71–52 61–45
San Sebastian Stags 56–62 68–63 76–89 57–76 71–81 60–77 — 67–73
Perpetual Altas 54–66 66–68 67–66 58–53 54–64 57–77 85–69 —
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[]

The San Beda Little Indians during a halftime performance at the Araneta Coliseum.
  • San Beda Red Lions
After making waves in the off-season tournaments, San Beda and PCU emerged as the preseason favorites. After defeating the JRU Heavy Bombers on Opening Night, the Red Lions were defeated by the PCU Dolphins, when Red Lions coach Koy Banal was on duty as assistant coach of the Purefoods Chunkee Giants during their PBA championship game. After Banal and the Chunkee Giants won the Philippine Cup, his return to the San Beda bench signalled the start of a Red Lions rampage, winning their next four games in convincing fashion. Their final game in the first round pitted them against the then undefeated Letran Knights. The game was held to a sell-out crowd and the Red Lions controlled the game. They never trailed during the game and went on to win by eight points, dealing the Knights their first loss of the season.
1 2 3 4 Total
Red Lions 12 2 13 27 54
Knights 21 5 9 8 43
During the second round, the Lions defeated PCU, the only team that had beaten them in the season and assuring them of the twice to beat advantage in the playoffs. San Beda completed a sweep of the second round with a victory over the Letran Knights in the elimination round finale in a tightly contested and defense oriented game to a capacity crowd at the famed Araneta Coliseum (linescore, right). This sealed their top place finish in the eliminations and sending the Knights to an additional playoff game against PCU to determine the final seeding in the semifinals.
  • PCU Dolphins
After losing to Letran in last year's Finals series, the Dolphins returned with an almost intact lineup, except for coach Junel Baculi who resigned due to health reasons (see above). On their Opening Day game against Mapua, they were beaten by the Cardinals in a tightly contested, low-scoring game. The Dolphins then went on a four-game winning streak, including a victory against San Beda. They were beaten by Letran in another tightly contested game but then went on to win four more times in the second round, finally losing to San Beda.
The Dolphins went on to beat Letran and Mapua, thus giving them a shot at the second twice to beat advantage going into the final four. After the Knights lost to the Red Lions in the final game of the eliminations, the Dolphins were tied with Letran for second place. In their playoff game against Letran, the Dolphins controlled the game midway through. Then they fought off a rally by the defending champions and finally winning the game in the final minute. So, after being in third place most of the season, PCU got the number two seed and the twice to beat advantage going into the Final Four against Letran.
  • Letran Knights
The defending champions started off the season with a six-game winning streak and seemed poised to sweep the first round of the eliminations. Their final assignment in the first round was against the San Beda Red Lions, who are on a winning streak of their own after succumbing to PCU in their second game. The Red Lions, however came well prepared and jumped the gun on the Knights at the early goings and controlled the game all throughout, thus dealing the Knights their first loss of the season, with both teams sharing first place honors in the first round with an identical 6-1 win-loss records.
At the start of the second round, Letran won four straight (beating the teams in the bottom half of the standings). At the 2006 PBA Draft, four Knights were drafted, including current players Boyet Bautista (Purefoods) and Aaron Aban (Alaska) However, after the draft, they were dealt by successive losses against eventual semifinalists Mapua, PCU and San Beda(A game that was very crucial to the Knights since they are fighting to keep their number two rank in the standings and the last twice to beat advantage in the Final Four. However, after a defense oriented game, they eventually succumbed once more to the Red Lions forcing them into a rubber match with PCU). In the classification game, Letran was beaten by PCU and they ended the eliminations with a four-game losing streak but more importantly, yielding the bonus to PCU in their upcoming encounter in the Final Four.
  • Mapua Cardinals
One of the preseason favorites, the Cardinals returned with an intact lineup. After winning against PCU on Opening Day, they were dealt with consecutive loses against San Beda and San Sebastian. After winning the next two games, they were defeated by Intramuros archrivals Letran.
Mapua defeated host CSB, securing the last Final Four slot. Mapua now owned the fourth seed with a twice to win disadvantage against San Beda. The Cardinals were beaten by PCU on their last game of the elimination round.

Second-seed game[]

Letran and PCU ended tied for second place as both teams having an identical 10-4 records, as a result a playoff game for the #2 seed and the twice to beat advantage at the semifinals that goes along with it was held, leading to a de facto first game of a best-of-three series.

September 8
4:00 p.m.
Letran Knights Letran school colors 62–67 PCU school colors PCU Dolphins
Scoring by quarter: 13–12, 9–21, 12–19, 28–15
Pts: Mark Balneg 15 Pts: Gabby Espinas 19
PCU wins the twice to beat advantage

After a tightly contested first quarter, the Dolphins went on a rampage, posting an eighteen-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter. With increased taunting from both sides, the Knights mounted a furious comeback, trimming the lead to one point thanks to Mark Balneg's 6–1 run. Gabby Espinas made a driving lay-up with 39 seconds left to increase PCU's lead to three points. Aaron Aban missed a three-point and had to foul Espinas, but he made both free-throws to clinch PCU the #2 seed.[8]

Bracket[]

  Semifinals
(#1 & #2 have twice-to-beat advantage) 		Finals
(Best-of-three playoff)
                       
1 San Beda school colors San Beda 55  
4 Mapua school colors Mapúa 51    
  1 San Beda school colors San Beda 71 50 68
  2 PCU school colors PCU 57 72 67
2 PCU school colors PCU 72  
3 Letran school colors Letran 50  

Semifinals[]

San Beda vs. Mapua[]

September 13
2:00 p.m.
San Beda Red Lions San Beda school colors 55–51 Mapua school colors Mapúa Cardinals
Scoring by quarter: 15–13, 7–16, 16–11, 17–11
Pts: Yousif Aljamal 20 Pts: dela Peña, Gonzales, 11 each
San Beda wins series in one game

San Beda started tentatively with the match but managed to lead early at 10-4 with a Sam Ekwe put-back. After that, the Red Lions offense sputtered, which the Cardinals took advantage of racing to a 7-point lead at the end of the half. The Red Lions managed to crawl back to within two at the end of the third and it was one frustration after another before San Beda equalized late into the fourth period with free throws from rookie Pong Escobal. The Red Lions grabbed the lead for good after a three-pointer from Menor and survived some late game heroics from the Cardinals who came to within a point before good defense from San Beda and a costly Mapua passing error sealed the Cardinals' fate with 4 seconds remaining.[9]

PCU vs. Letran[]

September 13
4:00 p.m.
PCU Dolphins PCU school colors 72–50 Letran school colors Letran Knights
Scoring by quarter: 16–8, 22–17, 13–19, 21–6
Pts: Gabby Espinas 16 Pts: Boyet Bautista 16
PCU wins series in one game

PCU and Letran managed to trade baskets early in the game but the Dolphins played better basketball as they managed to score uncontested layups. The Knights managed to cut the lead into two points early in the third quarter but the Dolphins answered back and closed out the game, 72-50.[9]

Finals[]

The Dolphins are in their third consecutive Finals appearance; they defeated the Perpetual Altas in 2004 under coach Loreto Tolentino, lost to the Letran Knights in 2005 with Junel Baculi at the helm, and are now facing the San Beda Red Lions.

The Red Lions, on the other hand, are in their first Finals appearance since 1997, where they were defeated by the Rommel Adducul-led San Sebastian Stags. They've last tasted the championship in 1978, with Chito Loyzaga as team captain.

Game 1[]

September 18
4:00 p.m.
San Beda Red Lions San Beda school colors 71–57 PCU school colors PCU Dolphins
Scoring by quarter: 20–17, 10–17, 20–5, 21–18
Pts: Pong Escobal 19 Pts: Jayson Castro 16
September 20
4:00 p.m.
San Beda Red Lions San Beda school colors 52–70 PCU school colors PCU Dolphins
September 22
3:30 p.m.
San Beda Red Lions San Beda school colors 68–67 PCU school colors PCU Dolphins
Scoring by quarter: 15–19, 21–11, 25–14, 7–23
Pts: Yousif Aljamal 23 Pts: Jayson Castro 25
San Beda wins series, 2–1

It was a nip and tuck affair in the first half of Game 1 with the Dolphins managing a slight margin at the end of the second quarter. San Beda however bounced back and outscored the Dolphins 20-5 in the penultimate quarter to pull away and draw first blood.[10]

San Beda started tentatively Game 2 with poor shooting. Reigning MVP and focal point of the Red Lion defense, Sam Ekwe was also hobbled with a knee injury. The Dolphins took advantage of this situation and efficiently worked their offense to run the Red Lions to the ground in the first half. It was virtually over by the start of the 2nd half as the Lions continue to fire blanks and the Dolphins proceeded to spoil San Beda's bid to end 28 years of frustration.[11]

San Beda ended 28 years of frustration with a win over former champions PCU.[12] Down by 15 points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Dolphins made a furious comeback, cutting the lead to one point with 24.8 seconds remaining due to the exploits of Jayson Castro. After another San Beda turnover, the Dolphins had an opportunity to win the championship with Castro dribbled out the time before passing to Beau Belga; Belga's shot bounced off the rim as Yousif Aljamal rebounded the ball, leading to San Beda's championship. It was the 12th seniors championship for the Red Lions. Forward Yousif Aljamal was named Finals MVP, after showing the same offensive consistency that was sorely lacking during their game 2 blowout loss.[12]

Awards[]

2006 Seniors' Basketball Champion
San Beda colors.svg
San Beda
12th title

Nigerian exchange student Samuel Ekwe got four out of five awards given by the NCAA Press Corps:[13]

  • Most Valuable Player: Nigeria Samuel Ekwe (San Beda Red Lions)
  • Rookie of the Year: Nigeria Samuel Ekwe (San Beda Red Lions)
  • Mythical Five:
    • Nigeria Samuel Ekwe (San Beda Red Lions)
    • Philippines Floyd Dedicatoria (JRU Heavy Bombers)
    • Philippines Gabby Espinas (PCU Dolphins)
    • Philippines Jayson Castro (PCU Dolphins)
    • Philippines Khiel Misa (Perpetual Altas)
  • Defensive Player of the Year: NigeriaSamuel Ekwe (San Beda Red Lions)
  • Most Improved Player: Philippines Boyet Bautista (Letran Knights)

Statistical leaders[]

  • Points: Khiel Misa (UPHD, 16.6)
  • Rebounds: Samuel Ekwe (San Beda, 13.8)
  • Assists: Mark Cagoco (JRU, 4.4)
  • Blocks: Samuel Ekwe (San Beda, 2.8)
  • Steals: Khiel Misa (UPHD, 2.1) and Floyd Dedicatoria (JRU, 2.1)
  • Turnovers: Khiel Misa (UPHD, 4.6)

Suspensions[]

Seven players had been suspended by the Management Committee:[14]

Juniors' tournament[]

Elimination round[]

Pos Team W L PCT GB Qualification
1 PCU school colors PCU Baby Dolphins 9 3 .750 — Twice-to-beat in the semifinals
2 SSC-R school colors San Sebastian Staglets 9 3 .750 —
3 San Beda school colors San Beda Red Cubs 9 3 .750 — Twice-to-win in the semifinals
4 JRU school colors JRU Light Bombers 6 6 .500 3
5 CSB school colors La Salle Greenies (H) 5 7 .417 4
6 UPHD school colors Perpetual Altalettes 4 8 .333 5
7 Letran school colors Letran Squires 0 12 .000 9
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) Host

Bracket[]

  Semifinals
(#1 & #2 have twice-to-beat advantage) 		Finals
                       
1 PCU school colors PCU 67  
4 JRU school colors JRU 66    
  1 PCU school colors PCU 55 41
  2 SSC-R school colors San Sebastian 57 65
2 SSC-R school colors San Sebastian 61  
3 San Beda school colors San Beda 52  

Semifinals[]

PCU vs. JRU[]

September 13
PCU Baby Dolphins PCU school colors 67–66 JRU school colors JRU Light Bombers
PCU wins series in one game

San Sebastian vs. San Beda[]

September 13
San Sebastian Staglets SSC-R school colors 61–52 San Beda school colors San Beda Red Cubs
San Sebastian wins series in one game

Finals[]

September 20
PCU Baby Dolphins PCU school colors 41–65 SSC-R school colors San Sebastian Staglets
San Sebastian wins series, 2–0
  • Finals Most Valuable Player: Ryan Buenafe (San Sebastian Staglets)

Awards[]

2006 Juniors' Basketball Champion
SSC-R colors.svg
San Sebastian
Third title

Jake Pascual won four individual awards in the Juniors' division.[13] They were all returned after the conclusion of PCU High School's eligibility scandal.[15]

  • Season Most Valuable Player: Jake Pascual (PCU Baby Dolphins)
  • Rookie of the Year: Jake Pascual (PCU Baby Dolphins)
  • Mythical Five:
    • Jake Pascual (PCU Baby Dolphins)
    • Ryan Buenafe (San Sebastian Staglets)
    • Raycon Kabigting (JRU Light Bombers)
    • Carlo Lituania (JRU Light Bombers)
    • Julius Wong (Letran Squires)
  • Defensive Player of the Year: Jake Pascual (PCU Baby Dolphins)
  • Most Improved Player: Michael Dizon (Perpetual Junior Altas)

References[]

  1. ^ Jun Bernardino named NCAA commissioner Archived 2007-03-30 at the Wayback Machine, ABS-CBN News. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
  2. ^ Calilan quits as JRU coach, Philippine Daily Inquirer. Published June 12, 2006.
  3. ^ NCAA seeks NBI help vs game fixers[permanent dead link] ABS-CBN News. Retrieved June 16, 2006.
  4. ^ Rizal named ‘NC’ venue Archived 2007-03-30 at the Wayback Machine ABS-CBN News. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
  5. ^ NCAA coaches pick Letran to win Archived 2007-09-26 at the Wayback Machine ABS-CBN News. Retrieved June 20, 2006.
  6. ^ Knights open title defense vs Blazers[permanent dead link] Philippine Star. Published June 24, 2006.
  7. ^ NBI agents monitoring NCAA games Philippine Daily Inquirer. Published July 20, 2006.
  8. ^ Satumbaga, Kristel (2006-09-09). "PCU earns semis advantage". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b Satumbaga, Kristel (2006-09-14). "Lions, Dolphins roar into finals". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  10. ^ Satumbaga, Kristel (2006-09-19). "San Beda nears Promised Land; Lions gun for title tomorrow". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  11. ^ Satumbaga, Kristel (2006-09-19). "Dolphins spoil Red Lions' party; PCU forces rubber match after 70-52 win". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  12. ^ Jump up to: a b Satumbaga, Kristel (2006-09-19). "Long wait over for San Beda; Red Lions nip Dolphins, 68-67, win first NCAA title in 28 years". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Satumbaga, Kristel (2006-09-19). "Nigerian wins NCAA's MVP, rookie honors". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2010-10-11.
  14. ^ Two Cards under fire for flagrant fouls Archived 2006-09-02 at the Wayback Machine The Philippine Star. Published September 1, 2006.
  15. ^ NCAA slaps one-year suspension on PCU Archived 2007-07-14 at the Wayback Machine
Preceded by
Season 81 (2005) 		NCAA basketball seasons
Season 82 (2006) 		Succeeded by
Season 83 (2007)
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