It took College of Saint Benilde-La Salle Green Hills seven years—and even an extra overtime period — to beat Colegio de San Juan Letran again. And it came at the most necessary time.

In a report by GMA Integrated News' Bea Micaller, La Salle Green Hills pulled off a gutsy 78-74 overtime victory over the twice-to-beat defending champions in Game 1 of the NCAA Season 100 juniors basketball Final Four on Monday at the FilOil EcoOil Centre.

The Greenies, who have lost their last seven games against the Squires dating back since Season 95, did so even after missing the services of suspended star guard Guillian Quines and head coach Renren Ritualo, who were ejected in their previous game against EAC.

And taking the lead were Arle Podador and Gian Gomez, with the former posting a team-high 19 points together with eight rebounds, five steals, and one assist while the latter churned out 18 markers, six boards, four dimes, and two steals.  

LSGH had a huge turnaround in the fourth quarter when Letran's main offensive weapon Jhuniel Dela Rama was ejected with still 7:28 to go after being whistled for a flagrant foul penalty two on Podador, who would tie it 65-all.

Gomez and James Ison both knocked down crucial baskets that saw the game tied at 71-all with 31.2 seconds left. Podador had the chance to win it from the line, but he missed two free throws to force an overtime.

Podador made up for those missed shots in OT, splitting a pair of free throws before Gomez laid it in to give LSGH its first lead at 76-74 with 45.7 ticks to go.

Podador then sank another couple of free throws off a foul for Timothy Cruz to seal the massive victory over the Squires that have beaten them for the last seven years.

The win was big for the Greenies as they are now heading to Game 2 with a complete lineup as Quines is expected to return as they hope to dethrone the two-peat champions come Wednesday.

Daniel Padilla and the rest of Letran, though, will still appeal the case of Dela Rama, who will be handed a one-game suspension following the ejection.