Jarin, Ayo give contrasting lookaheads of NCAA Finals decider

By Ivan Saldajeno

PASAY--San Beda stretched the NCAA men's basketball finals to a rubber match on Thursday, and Jamike Jarin expects the final showdown between his team and rival squad Letran to be a classic regardless of the result.

"It doesn't get any better than this. Rubber matches are historic. [Whether] you lose [or] you win, you're part of history.... It's gonna be one hell of a game. From start to finish, it's gonna be a classic one," Jarin told the press shortly after taking Game 2 of the best-of-three series on Tuesday night.

However, for Letran coach Aldin Ayo, it could only be memorable if offense will be the story of the game.

"[The] bottom line [is that sa] basketball, kung sino ang may pinakamaraming puntos, siya ang mananalo. [It could be a] classic in terms of effort, but in terms of basketball, hindi ko maisisigurado. Every time na binabanggit ang "effort" sa basketball, it's not so much on offense eh. Nasa depensa yan," Ayo said to sportswriters later Tuesday.

The Red Lions and the Knights will play one more time for the NCAA championship at the Mall of Asia Arena at 4 p.m.

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