# NCAA Season 77 basketball tournaments

The basketball tournaments of National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) 77th season hosted by the Philippine Christian University began on July 7, 2001, at the Araneta Coliseum with Manila mayor Lito Atienza as the special guest and speaker, followed by the opening ceremonies and a quadruple-header. Games then are subsequently held at Rizal Memorial Coliseum. The opening rites and the games were aired live by the Media Conglomerates Inc. over PTV/NBN through the facilities of Silverstar Communications, Inc.

## Men's tournament
### Elimination round
#### Team standing

| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | JRU Heavy Bombers | 11 | 3 | .786 | — | Twice-to-beat in the semifinals |
| 2 | San Sebastian Stags | 9 | 5 | .643 | 2 | Twice-to-beat in the semifinals |
| 3 | Mapúa Cardinals | 9 | 5 | .643 | 2 | Twice-to-win in the semifinals |
| 4 | Benilde Blazers | 8 | 6 | .571 | 3 | Twice-to-win in the semifinals |
| 5 | PCU Dolphins (H) | 7 | 7 | .500 | 4 | |
| 6 | Letran Knights | 6 | 8 | .429 | 5 | |
| 7 | Perpetual Altas | 4 | 10 | .286 | 7 | |
| 8 | San Beda Red Lions | 2 | 12 | .143 | 9 | |
* 1 2 Head-to-head record: Mapua 1–1 San Sebastian, (head-to-head point differential: 0); overall point differential: San Sebastian +87, Mapua +7

#### Match-up results

| | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 | Round 2 |
| Team ╲ Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Letran | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Benilde | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| JRU | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Mapúa | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| PCU | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| San Beda | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| San Sebastian | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Perpetual | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

#### Scores

Results on top and to the right of the dashes are for first-round games; those to the bottom and to the left of it are second-round games.
| Teams | CSJL | CSB | JRU | MIT | PCU | SBC | SSC-R | UPHR |
| Letran Knights | — | 65–71 | 81–85 | 71–76 | 70–65 | 85–77 | 63–75 | 81–72 |
| Benilde Blazers | 77–71* | — | 90–95 | 60–66 | 64–68 | 98–103* | 71–77 | 71–75 |
| JRU Heavy Bombers | 81–83 | 74–84 | — | 62–56 | 82–70 | 103–98 | 55–54 | 80–73 |
| Mapúa Cardinals | 62–55 | 61–70 | 88–85 | — | 71–73 | 80–71 | 60–70 | 52–61 |
| PCU Dolphins | 87–81 | 81–79 | 80–87 | 61–74 | — | 85–93 | 55–61 | 62–64 |
| San Beda Red Lions | 67–88 | 74–91 | 111–125* | 66–68 | 75–82 | — | 77–81 | 78–84 |
| San Sebastian Stags | 83–62 | 69–72 | 75–81 | 81–71 | 65–72 | 84–69 | — | 89–81** |
| Perpetual Altas | 70–71 | 63–76 | 87–102 | 72–80 | 69–74 | 61–82 | 64–76 | — |

### Bracket

| 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) | 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) | Finals (Best-of-three series) |
| 1 | JRU | 84 | 99 | | | | | |
| 4 | Benilde | 98 | 76 | |
| 4 | Benilde | 98 | 76 | 1 | JRU | 74 | 95 | 62 |
| | | | | 2 | San Sebastian | 77 | 81 | 95 |
| 2 | San Sebastian | 58 | 48 | 2 | San Sebastian | 77 | 81 | 95 |
| 3 | Mapúa | 65 | 44 | |

### Semifinals

San Sebastian and JRU have the twice-to-beat advantage. They only have to win once, while their opponents, twice, to progress.

#### (1) JRU vs. (4) Benilde

* PTV-4
* September 20 5:30 p.m.
| JRU Heavy Bombers | 84–98 | Benilde Blazers |
| Scoring by quarter: 17-26, 21-19, 21-21, 25-32 |||
| Pts: Nani Epondulan 22 | | Pts: Sunday Salvacion 39 |
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
* PTV-4
* September 22 5:00 p.m.
| JRU Heavy Bombers | 99–76 | Benilde Blazers |
| Pts: Nani Epondulan 35 | | |
| JRU wins series in two games |||
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
In Game 1, the defending champions Blazers relied on its star, Sunday Salvacion, who capped 39 points in the game including six treys. The game was a nip-and-tuck affair until midway in the first half, when Salvacion broke a 14-all deadlock. The Bombers never recovered and faced a 15-point deficit entering the final two minutes.
The Heavy Bombers relied on its veterans to mount a huge lead, 58–32 in the third quarter and never looked back. Defending champion Blazers, however, conspired a comeback by making ten triples, but it wasn't enough to push themselves on the way to Finals. Graduating players Ernani Epondulan finished with 35 points and Ariel Capus made 17 of his own.

#### (2) San Sebastian vs. (3) Mapúa

* PTV-4
* September 20 1:30 p.m.
| San Sebastian Stags | 58–65 | Mapúa Cardinals |
| Scoring by quarter: 13-21, 23-11, 9-11, 13-22 |||
| Pts: Mark Macapagal 14 | | Pts: Steve Marucot 18 |
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
* PTV-4
* September 22 1:30 p.m.
| San Sebastian Stags | Mapúa Cardinals |
| Scoring by quarter: 16-11, 10-10, 8-14, 14-9 |||
| Pts: Paul Reguerra 10 | Pts: Jeff Martin 12 |
| San Sebastian wins series in two games |||
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
The Cardinals, led by rookie point guard Jeffrey Martin, Steve Marucot, and Roberto Lagar found their rhythm in the final period of Game 1 to force the Stags to a rubber match. Lagar hit back-to-back treys midway in the final period to give his team the lead, 57–49. However, the Stags recovered and reduced the deficit, 59–58, thanks to Michael Gonzales' pair of charities in the last 21 seconds. The Stags went to fouls to stop the clock when Lagar missed his last free throw but Marucot's putback sealed the victory for the Cardinals.
The Stags, who are enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage, relied on endgame breaks in Game 2 to eliminate Mapúa and advance to the Finals.

### Finals

The San Sebastian Stags are back again in the Finals after their disappointing defeat from CSB Blazers last season. They last held their five-straight championships from 1993 to 1997 and then the streak ended in 1998 at the hands of Letran Knights.
Meanwhile, the JRU Heavy Bombers has not seen a title since 1972. They came close to winning the title in 1999, only to falter to the Letran Knights. The disappointment continued last year when they were beaten twice by the San Sebastian Stags in the semifinals.
* PTV-4
* September 27 3:30 p.m.
| JRU Heavy Bombers | 74–77 | San Sebastian Stags |
| Scoring by quarter: 13-18, 20-20, 26-15, 15-24 |||
| Pts: Nani Epondulan 16 | | Pts: Clark Moore 15 |
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
* PTV-4
* September 29 3:30 p.m.
| JRU Heavy Bombers | 95–81 | San Sebastian Stags |
| Scoring by quarter: 19-21, 28-14, 9-12, 39-34 |||
| Pts: Nani Epondulan 26 | | Pts: Macapagal, Alfad 14 each |
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
* PTV-4
* October 2 3:30 p.m.
| JRU Heavy Bombers | San Sebastian Stags |
| Scoring by quarter: 18-23, 17-20, 9-19, 18-33 |||
| Pts: Ariel Capus 14 | Pts: Mark Macapagal 21 |
| San Sebastian wins series, 2–1 |||
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
* Finals Most Valuable Player: Christian Coronel (San Sebastian Stags)
The two teams clashed neck-to-neck all throughout Game 1 but the Stags are the better team in crunch time. The Heavy Bombers entered the final quarter with the lead when the Stags applied its pressure defense. Stags' Roy Falcasantos converted a layup in the last 48 seconds of the game to break a 74-all tieup then later converted a charity to give his team the win.
JRU relied on the offense of season MVP Nani Epondulan, Joel Finuliar, Rendel Dela Rea, and Ariel Capus to register a 68–54 lead in the final quarter of Game 2 to keep the Stags at bay and then finally made a comeback to the series.
Showing experience, the Stags never faltered from the start of Game 3, as they outclassed the Heavy Bombers by 33 points en route to their 10th NCAA championship. Nani Epondulan, the season MVP, tallied 13 points in the first half, but was made scoreless in the second half.

### Awards

* NCAA Season 77 men's basketball champions
* San Sebastian Stags Tenth title
* Most Valuable Player: Ernani Epondulan (JRU Heavy Bombers)
* Mythical Five:
** Ernani Epondulan (JRU Heavy Bombers)
** Arjun Cordero (San Beda Red Lions)
** Jondan Salvador (Benilde Blazers)
** Harold Santa Cruz (Letran Knights)
** Nelbert Omolon (PCU Dolphins)
* Rookie of the Year: Ismael Junio (Letran Knights)
* Coach of the Year: Arturo Valenzona (San Sebastian Stags)

## Juniors' tournament
### Bracket

| 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) | Finals (Best-of-three series) |
| 1 | Letran | W | | | | | |
| 4 | Mapúa | L | | | | | |
| 4 | Mapúa | L | 1 | Letran | 74 | 70 | 63* |
| | | | 2 | San Beda | 69 | 80 | 61 |
| 2 | San Beda | W | 2 | San Beda | 69 | 80 | 61 |
| 3 | San Sebastian | L | | | | | |
*Game went into overtime

### Finals

* September 27 1:00pm
| Letran Squires | 74–69 | San Beda Red Cubs |
| Letran leads series, 1–0 |||
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
* September 29 1:00pm
| Letran Squires | 70–80 | San Beda Red Cubs |
| Series tied, 1–1 |||
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
* October 2 1:00pm
| Letran Squires | 63–61 (OT) | San Beda Red Cubs |
| Letran wins series, 2–1 |||
* Rizal Memorial Coliseum, Manila
* Finals Most Valuable Player: Leland Ronquillo (Letran Squires)

### Awards

* NCAA Season 77 juniors' basketball champions
* Letran Squires 12th title
* Most Valuable Player: Jay-R Reyes (Letran Squires)
* Rookie of the Year: Jay-R Reyes (Letran Squires)
* Mythical Five:
** Jay-R Reyes (Letran Squires)
** JC Intal (Letran Squires)
** Alvin Banes (San Sebastian Staglets)
** Mark Lester Benitez (JRU Light Bombers)
** Jonjon Tabique (San Beda Red Cubs)
* Defensive Player of the Year: Jay-R Reyes (Letran Squires)
* Most Improved Player: Mark Lester Benitez (JRU Light Bombers)
* Coach of the Year: Jing Ruiz (Letran Squires)