# NCAA Season 73 basketball tournaments

The 1997 NCAA basketball tournament was the 73rd season in the Philippine National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The season opened on August 2, 1997 at the Araneta Coliseum and ended on October 6, 1997 with the San Sebastian Stags winning their fifth straight championship in the Seniors division.
This was the first-ever final four semifinals.

## Men's tournament
### Elimination round

| Pos | Team | W | L | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | San Sebastian Stags (H) | 12 | 0 | 24 | Twice-to-beat in the Finals |
| 2 | San Beda Red Lions | 8 | 4 | 20 | Proceed to stepladder round 2 |
| 3 | Letran Knights | 7 | 5 | 19 | Proceed to stepladder round 1 |
| 4 | Mapúa Cardinals | 7 | 5 | 19 | Proceed to stepladder round 1 |
| 5 | Perpetual Altas | 6 | 6 | 18 | |
| 6 | JRC Heavy Bombers | 2 | 10 | 14 | |
| 7 | PCU Dolphins (X) | 0 | 12 | 12 | |
* ↑ As San Sebastian won all of their elimination round games, the stepladder format will be used instead of the regular Final Four format.
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Letran 2–0 Mapua

### Bracket

| Stepladder round 1 (Single-elimination) | Stepladder round 1 (Single-elimination) | Stepladder round 1 (Single-elimination) | Stepladder round 2 (Single-elimination) | Stepladder round 2 (Single-elimination) | Stepladder round 2 (Single-elimination) | Finals (#1 has twice-to-beat advantage) | Finals (#1 has twice-to-beat advantage) | Finals (#1 has twice-to-beat advantage) |
| | | | | | | 1 | San Sebastian | 84 |
| | | | 2 | San Beda | 72 | 2 | San Beda | 72 |
| 3 | Letran | 68 | 3 | Letran | 65 | | | |
| 4 | Mapúa | 57 | | | | | | |

### Stepladder semifinals

Both rounds are straight knockout matches.

#### (3) Letran vs. (4) Mapúa

* October 1
| Letran Knights | 68–57 | Mapúa Cardinals |
| Letran advances to the 2nd round |||
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
Letran Knights beat Mapua Cardinals, 68–57, on October 1, in the first of two knockout matches to determine defending champion San Sebastian College's finals opponent. The Stags completed a 12-game elimination round sweep to automatically clinch the first finals slot.

#### (2) San Beda vs. (3) Letran

* October 3
| San Beda Red Lions | 72–65 | Letran Knights |
| San Beda advances to the Finals |||
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
San Beda Red Lions finished second and drew a bye; they defeated Letran Knights two nights later, 72–65, and arranged a title clash with San Sebastian Stags.

### Finals

San Sebastian has the twice-to-beat advantage over San Beda, who only has to lose once to lose the series.

#### Game 1

* October 5
| San Sebastian Stags | 84–72 | San Beda Red Lions |
| San Sebastian wins series in one game |||
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
Stags' Rommel Adducul capped another MVP season with 20 points and 16 rebounds while Jasper Ocampo and Ulysses Tanique sparked the Stags' breakaway 25–7 run in the final 15 minutes. San Sebastian won their fifth consecutive title and the school's ninth NCAA crown.

### Awards

* NCAA Season 73 men's basketball champions
* San Sebastian Stags Ninth title, fifth consecutive title

## Juniors' tournament
### Playoffs

| Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage) | Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage) | Semifinals (Nos. 1 & 2 have twice-to-beat advantage) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) | Finals (Best-of-three series) |
| 1 | San Beda | 91 | | | | |
| 4 | San Sebastian | 72 | | | | |
| 4 | San Sebastian | 72 | 1 | San Beda | 63 | 60 |
| | | | 2 | Mapúa | 64 | 78 |
| 2 | Mapúa | 77 | 2 | Mapúa | 64 | 78 |
| 3 | PCU | 67 | | | | |