Letran-San Beda and the Rivalry That Refuses to Fade
The few times I’ve been to Intramuros, I always wondered: What if these walls could talk? With all the historic figures who walked in their midst and the epic battles they witnessed, what stories would they have to offer?
The sight of Mendiola Street evokes the same fascination. This street, a pathway to Malacañang Palace, must have felt a million footsteps marching to the beat of outrage. If roads had mouths, what testimony would they give?
Intramuros and Mendiola stand the test of time. As for the two schools at the heart of these landmark sites, I truly believe that they will fight forever on the sacred grounds of the hardcourt. Just as they’ll do on May 23, when they square off in the quarterfinals of the Asiabasket NSAC.
The term “historic rivalry” gets thrown around a lot in basketball circles, but when it comes to Letran and San Beda, it’s the unadulterated truth. Before the Ateneo-La Salle feud intensified in the UAAP, before Atoy Co went toe-to-toe with Robert Jaworski in the Crispa-Toyota wars, the seeds were being planted for a clash that would enthrall generations of hoops fans.
The Opening Bell
Where did it all start? Historians and longtime fans have different perspectives on the genesis of the Letran vs. San Beda blockbuster. Me, I can’t help but revisit a series of events that took place 76 years ago.
Leading up to the men’s basketball finals of NCAA Season 26, the Letran Knights had a chance to win the championship outright by sweeping all of their games in the double-round elims. So fearsome was this team’s duo of Lauro “The Fox” Mumar and Hermino “Togay” Astorga that they were dubbed “Murder Inc.” across the league. “My senior sports colleagues and editors described the Letran Knights of that era as ‘punishers’ to a great degree,” basketball historian Prof. Tessa Jazmines told ALL-STAR Magazine.
At the time, though, Carlos Loyzaga didn’t flinch. “The Big Difference” and his San Beda Red Lions squad would score a pivotal win against the Knights in the elimination round, which meant that the championship would have to be decided the old-fashioned way: a Finals showdown. With a title on the line and a grudge stemming from the blemish on their perfect record, the Knights defeated the Red Lions on October 28, 1950 to win their second NCAA title.
Though this story arc is worthy of primetime television, it’s worth pointing out that Letran and San Beda were also dealing with other major players at that time. Before and after that 1950 clash, the Knights and the Red Lions had their hands full with the rest of the league.
“The old NCAA used to be like an all-boys schools competition with very passionate rivalries among the old boys-exclusive schools, particularly Ateneo, La Salle, San Beda and Letran, and later on San Sebastian,” Red Lions team manager Jude Roque told ALL-STAR Magazine. “The main rivalry back in the day was Ateneo vs San Beda as both schools had the most basketball titles in the senior division.”
But fate, it seemed, would intertwine the Knights and the Red Lions in ways both overt and covert.
The Heavy Hits
In 1978, Ateneo decided to leave the NCAA. Their final game in the league: a closed door, winner-take-all game in the Finals against another powerhouse.
Why were there no spectators allowed for this Finals affair? Prior to this game, an ugly brawl had broken out between the fanbases of the two schools. “An era of unsportsmanlike antics and excessive violence began to take hold of the NCAA, eventually pushing Ateneo to depart from the league,” wrote Vito Martin and Miguel Policarpio of The Guidon back in 2019.
Then, in 1981, La Salle followed suit. Similar circumstances were behind their departure: During a second-round game the year before, La Salle fans had a violent clash with the supporters of the opposing team. Recalling this brawl in a 2013 piece for Bandera, veteran analyst Henry Liao painted this picture: “The Rizal Memorial Coliseum was a wreck after the two opposing sides ripped apart the chairs screwed to the ground and threw them as weapons.”
Here’s what it comes down to: Ateneo left after an encounter with San Beda, and La Salle bolted after an altercation with Letran. In the divine script of the basketball gods, that can’t be a coincidence.
What happened when Bedans tussled with Letranites back in the day? It was most definitely not PG. Cars were smashed, objects were hurled, and riots broke out in the stands. In an episode of Ranidel de Ocampo and GB Labrador’s “Balyahan” podcast, former Red Cub Gerry Esplana joked that his fellow Bedans had to find ways to avoid their windshields getting destroyed. “Kung may sasakyan ka ‘nun, lagyan mo muna ng Letran sticker,” said “Mr. Cool.”
Don’t get me started with the verbal and psychological warfare across the decades. I’ve heard stories that I don’t even dare to write here. (Something about masks. And jackets not worth stealing. IYKYK.)
There were multiple lulls in the Letran vs. San Beda conflict, including the Red Lions’ leave of absence from the NCAA in the early 80s. By the late 2000s, however, the rivalry picked up steam once again. With no Ateneo and La Salle in the picture, the stage was set for two of the oldest institutions in the NCAA to command the spotlight.
The Combatants Through the Years
Off-court drama makes Letran vs. San Beda scintillating, but basketball purists will ultimately find satisfaction by tracing the lineage of greats produced by these two schools.
Which products can Letran brag about? Aside from Mumar and Astorga, there’s “Fastbreak” Freddie Webb and “The Skywalker” Samboy Lim, two athletic studs who oozed charisma everywhere they went. You also have versatile big man Kerby Raymundo, reliable sharpshooter Chris Calaguio, and two-time PBA MVP Willie Miller (a character if I ever saw one).
Over the past 20 years or so, the Knights have wielded the likes of RJ “Too Cool” Jazul, “Rock N’ Roll” Raymond Almazan, and “The Stingray” Rey Nambatac. Don’t forget the two incomparable Kevins (Alas and Racal), as well as Rhenz Abando, the first Filipino cager to win a championship in the Korean Basketball League.
Not to be outdone, San Beda has also been a hotbed of PBA and Gilas talents. Chito and Joey Loyzaga, the sons of the “Big Difference,” won multiple championships in the pro ranks, with kuya Chito going on to hold administrative posts like MBA Commissioner and UAAP Commissioner. Also donning a Red Lions jersey back in the day were Alberto “Big Boy” Reynoso and Abe King, two of the most dominant big men of their respective eras.
Backcourt greats from San Beda include the sweet-shooting Boybits Victoria and the cerebral Frankie Lim, who had a prolific career as both a PBA court general and NCAA head coach. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Baser “The Hammer” Amer and coach Borgie Hermida. Stars like former NCAA MVP Yousif Aljamal and national team stalwarts Calvin Oftana and Robert Bolick deserve recognition as well.
Pick any name above and pull up their stats, resumes, and highlights. That right there is proof of the legacy shared by Bedans and Letranites: an abundance of beautiful basketball that the Philippines can be proud of.
The Fight Continues
But, when postseason glory is on the line, all shared legacies go out the window.
For seven decades and counting, the Letran vs. San Beda rivalry has seen no grander stage than the NCAA Finals. In a December 2025 report, Rom Anzures of ABS-CBN News provided an updated championship tally in these two schools’ head-to-head. San Beda: 11, Letran: 7.
It’s been five months since Yukien Andrada, Nygel Gonzales, and Finals MVP Bryan Sajonia led a Red Lions sweep of the Knights to claim the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball title. Even without high-scoring wingman Janti Miller (who’d been suspended for Game 2), coach Yuri Escueta’s squad overcame the challenge of a talented Letran team powered by Kevin Santos, Jun Roque, and Mythical Five member Jonathan Manalili.
Is Letran out to avenge that Finals loss? 100%. But they won’t have to wait till September.
This Saturday, the battle drums will throb anew as the Knights take on the Red Lions in the Asiabasket playoffs. At stake: A spot in the semifinals of the 2026 NSAC. It’s win or go home.
How appropriate, of course, that these two teams will renew hostilities on the battleground of La Salle, a school that bore witness to the evolution of their conflict since the post-World War II era. The echoes of history will rise to a crescendo once again when Letran and San Beda face off in the NSAC. How can they not? The bad blood runs deep.
Special thanks to NCAA enthusiast Paolo Perez, Prof. Tessa Jazmines of the UP College of Mass Communication, and San Beda alum Archie Ventosa for their valuable contributions to the research for this piece.
