Colegio de San Juan de Letran successfully retained the NCAA title in Muralla after beating Mapua University in their best-of-three finals series to sweep the NCAA Season 97 men's basketball tournament.
But apart from winning the back-to-back, Letran head coach Bonnie Tan said the championship was made sweeter because of the difficulties they had to overcome during the pandemic.
"Of course, we're very happy. Mahirap itong pandemic na liga coming from more than two years na bakante," said Tan following their 75-65 title clincher on Sunday.
"I don't know kung masasabi natin na mas masaya pero mas mahirap itong season na ito compared to last season."
Tan stressed their sacrifices were no joke, from setting up a bubble camp inside their campus to being away from their families for months.
"Lahat naman ng games namin, struggle kami pero 'yung mga players natin nag-step up. Lahat ng challenges sa kanila, na-overcome nila and I'm happy for them," Tan, a two-time champion coach, added.
Against the Cardinals, the Knights knew they had to have a good start, learning their lessons from Game One where they had to roar back from 10 points down to draw a 68-63 comeback win.
And in Game Two, Letran was able to build a 21-point lead but Mapua sliced that into five, 70-65, late in the fourth quarter. But with the heart of a champion, the Knights still came on top, giving Letran back-to-back titles in 23 years.
"Sawa na kami na catch up basketball ang nilalaro. We know Mapua came back strong sa second half, but were expecting na magbibigay sila ng magandang laban," Tan added.
"Mas gusto na namin 'yun mangyari kaysa kami ang humahabol especially dito sa championship game."
—JMB, GMA News
