Letran Aims for Third Straight Win Against EAC

Letran hunts a third straight win. San Beda just wants to get on the board.

Last season’s finalists find themselves in very different places as they return to the NCAA men’s basketball spotlight at the San Juan Arena on Thursday, Sept. 24, with the Knights facing Emilio Aguinaldo College at 5 p.m. and the Red Lions locking horns with Lyceum at 3 p.m.

Knights riding Walker’s hot hand

Letran has looked ruthless through two games, stitching together back-to-back clinical performances to open Season 102 at 2-0. The target now is clear: a 3-0 start and another statement of authority against an EAC side still searching for its first win.

The Knights have quickly reorganized around their “missing piece” in Denzil Walker. The former University of the Philippines standout has wasted no time justifying the hype, dropping 21 points against Perpetual and following it up with 25 versus San Sebastian. Those numbers are not a luxury for Letran; they are a necessity.

With key pieces Deo Cuajao and Jun Roque out of the picture, the Muralla-based squad needs Walker’s versatility and scoring punch just to keep its usual standards. At 6-foot-4, he has given Letran a new dimension, stretching defenses, attacking closeouts, and easing the load on the rest of the rotation.

But it cannot be a one-man show. Coach Allen Ricardo will demand more from his support crew, particularly from Chad Gammad and Titing Manalili, who are expected to complement Walker’s production and maintain the Knights’ defensive edge.

They will need that edge. EAC may be winless, but it is not lifeless.

EAC desperate to break the slump

The Generals come in wounded but dangerous, still smarting from a narrow 91-87 loss to Arellano last Tuesday. That kind of defeat can either drain a team or sharpen it. EAC is banking on the latter.

Jude Bagay, Kyle Ochavo, MJ Raymundo, and Jacob Shanoda carry the responsibility of turning frustration into fuel. They have shown they can keep games close; now they must prove they can finish one. Against an unbeaten Letran side, any lapse will be punished.

For the Knights, an impressive outing is not just preferred, it is almost mandatory. Allow a struggling team to hang around, and the pressure flips. The longer EAC stays in touch, the more dangerous this matchup becomes for a Letran squad trying to protect a spotless record.

Red Lions on the rebound

Earlier in the day, San Beda steps onto the floor with a very different kind of pressure.

The two-peat chasers are still chasing their first win of the season. A game cancellation against Jose Rizal University due to heavy rains stalled their rhythm and denied them a quick chance to respond to an earlier setback against the College of Saint Benilde Blazers.

Now the Red Lions are forced to compress that frustration and lost time into one afternoon against the Lyceum Pirates.

For a program built on championships, a slow start is not just inconvenient, it is unsettling. The margin for error shrinks quickly in a short tournament, and San Beda knows it cannot afford to drift any further from the pace-setters.

Lyceum, as always, will see this as an opportunity to bloody a giant. San Beda, for its part, will see it as the perfect stage to reassert its identity.

Two finalists from last year. One still flawless, one still winless. By the end of Thursday at San Juan, the shape of Season 102 will look a little clearer — and for either Letran or San Beda, the path to another finals run might start, or slip, right here.