There could be a good or bad game offensively, but I hope that everybody would step up and play good defense.

LARRY Muyang will lead Letran in do-or-die match against San Sebastian. DAVID JOHN CUBANGBANG

Expect a dogfight as Letran College and San Sebastian College figure in a battle for survival and a golden shot at the crown when the stepladder phase of Season 95 National Collegiate Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament fires off today at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

Game time is at 4 p.m. with the Knights and the Stags seeking a win that will give them a chance to book a duel with Lyceum of the Philippines University in the next round of the stepladder of the country’s oldest collegiate basketball tournament.

Prior to that, San Beda University tackles College of Saint Benilde-La Salle Greenhills while Lyceum clashes with San Sebastian in the Final Four action of the juniors division.

After finishing with a 12-6 win-loss card, the Knights advanced to the post-season as the third seed while the Stags settled for the fourth spot following am 11-7 performance in the double-round eliminations.

But with San Beda roaring with a clean 18-game sweep of the preliminaries, the complexion completely changed as the Red Lions gained a free pass to the best-of-three finals while the second seed in Lyceum was handed a twice-to-beat edge against the victor in the Letran-San Sebastian tiff in the next round of the stepladder.

San Sebastian coach Egay Macaraya knows the enormity of the task, saying that they must come out with an airtight, impenetrable defense in order for them to pull the rug from under Letran.

In their first encounter, the Stags were in control as Ken Villapando delivered the dagger in the crucial stretch to compliment the 22-point effort of RK Ilagan that led to a 102-101 win last 20 August.

But the Knights stormed back as Larry Muyang and Edson Batiller erupted for combined 30 points to register a big 99-82 win in their second-round collision last 20 September.

Macaraya said Letran is keeping high-powered weapons in its offensive arsenal so they might as well come up with a solid defense to keep their flickering title chances alive.

“As we all know, the only way to stop Letran is to play good defense,” said Macaraya, adding that they would hound Letran gunners like Muyang and Jerick Balanza from start to finish.

“There could be a good or bad game offensively, but I hope that everybody would step up and play good defense.”

Macaraya has all the right to get wary of the Knights.

Letran is playing a fluid offense with Balanza, Muyang, At Ular and Bonbon Batiller wrapping up the eliminations with double figures in scoring.

Skipper Balanza, whose rise from a brain surgery to collegiate stardom had inspired his teammates, averaged 15.1 points per game (ppg) in the preliminaries while Muyang (12.8 ppg), Ular (11.2 ppg) and Batiller (105 ppg) all made significant contributions.

Still, Letran coach Bonnie Tan stressed that they haven’t proven anything,

“Being the best offensive team made my boys more composed and relaxed in terms of offensive mindset,” said Tan, who is also the team manager of NorthPort in the Philippine Basketball Association.

“But we are still working hard. We are training twice a day. My boys are getting along well as a team and all of these are good attributes and important keys for winning.”

To counter Letran’s firepower, Macaraya said he would unleash the fearsome duo of Allyn Bulanadi and RK Ilagan.

Bulanadi, who erupted for 44 points in their final game of the eliminations against University of Perpetual Help System Dalta, is averaging 20.3 ppg while Ilagan has norms of 14.7 ppg on top of 4.1 assists per game.

“You have to come up with a perfect and balanced basketball in order to defeat a team as disciplined as Letran,” Macaraya said.