Quinto, Calvo root for Letran

San Beda is coming off a long rest while Letran continued to play and win in the stepladder.

Former Letran College standouts Bong Quinto and JP Calvo strongly believe that the Knights have what it takes to pull off a shocking upset of San Beda University in their Season 95 best-of-three finals showdown starting today at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Now playing for Meralco in the Philippine Basketball Association, Quinto said the Knights are facing a juggernaut in the Red Lions so they have to stay focused, not just the starters, but also the bench players.

Quinto played a crucial role in Letran’s title run in 2015.

Although he scored only four points in the deciding Game 3 of that emotional series, his defensive presence on San Beda stars like Art de la Cruz, Baser Amer and Javee Mocon was enough to power the Knights to a rousing victory.

De la Cruz now plays for Ginebra while Amer and Mocon are now with Meralco and Rain or Shine, respectively.

“They (Knights) really have a big advantage,” Quinto said, adding that the long rest of San Beda could work to its disadvantage.

“San Beda is coming off a long rest while Letran continued to play and win in the stepladder. The Knights must grab this opportunity and give everything there, especially the seniors like Bonbon (Batiller), Jerrick (Balanza) and Christian (Balagasay). It’s their last year so they have to give their all.”

Quinto added that for the Knights to win, it should be a team effort.

“Everyone has to be focused from the staring five down to the last guy on the bench.”

The former Letran reserve, who now plays for Columbian Dyip, said the momentum is definitely on the Knights following impressive wins over San Sebastian College and Lyceum of the Philippines University in the stepladder phase.

“The momentum is definitely on their side. They are very confident. Since San Beda had a long rest, Letran has the advantage,” Calvo said.

“I’m very happy because I’ve been with Letran for so long and I always want them to be in the finals. It’s really overwhelming since Bong and I left the school with a title. Now, the new batch of Letran players had picked up where we left off.”