San Sebastian–Letran rivalry
A.Y San Sebastian Letran
1998-1999 - 3rd
1999-2000 - 4th
2000-2001 - 1st
2001-2002 - 1st
2002-2003 - 6th
2003-2004 - 5th
2004-2005 - 2nd
2005-2006 1st 7th
2006-2007 1st 7th
2007-2008 1st 2nd
2008-2009 1st 2nd
2009-2010 3rd 2nd
2010-2011 2nd 4th
2011-2012 5th 2nd
2012-2013 2nd 4th
2013-2014 2nd 6th
2014-2015 6th 3rd
2015-2016 8th 7th
2016-2017 10th 6th
2017-2018 5th 3rd
This rivalry is between Recto's San Sebastian and Muralla's Letran. After both Ateneo and La Salle left, San Sebastian (frequently shortened to Baste) strengthened their basketball program. The acquisition of Paul Alvarez to San Sebastian and Samboy Lim to Letran provided several close games in the 1980s which led to the birth of the rivalry. In the 1980s, Letranites were notorious for yelling profanities at the San Sebastian players, and on one occasion, led to a rumble at Vito Cruz Avenue when at the last second, a power interruption occurred, causing confusion on what team won the championship. The rumbles between the two schools have become more frequent which solidified the intense rivalry between the two schools. Paul Alvarez would later play for the Pennsylvania Valley Dawgs of the United States Basketball League. The rivalry continued in the turn of the millennium when the Stags met the Knights in the finals twice. This led to several memorable games in which the Knights won the 1998 edition with a barrage of three-pointers and free throws by Letran's Nicholas Pacheco with a few seconds remaining to win their 13th championship. The Knights also became the first 4th seed to upset the 1st seed in the Final Four when they defeated the Stags twice during the 1999 NCAA Final Four. That feat would soon be duplicated the following year when the 4th seed Stags upended top seed JRC Heavy Bombers in the 2000 NCAA Final Four. The Knights went on to win the 1999 NCAA championship. In the 2003 NCAA Finals, the Stags (defending champs) made a rally in the 4th quarter in the 3rd game of their series and kept Letran scoreless for almost 6 minutes that led them to take the lead but Boyet Bautista started the comeback by tying the game at 48-all and then his teammates Jonathan Piñera and Aaron Aban finished the game to win their 15th championship at the expense of the Stags.