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Elmer Espiritu of University of the East pulled off a major shocker as he bested heavily favored JC Intal of Ateneo in the slam dunk competition of the Bantay Bata 163 UAAP-NCAA All-Stars Saturday at the Philsports Arena.

Coming in second behind Intal in the elimination, Espiritu did a 360-degree, double-clutch jam to score a 48, enough to beat the former. Intal, the 2004 champion, had a perfect 50 after a rim-rattling windmill jam in the qualifiers but missed what could have been the winning dunk — a between-the-legs one-handed tomahawk slam.

Intal, wearing the old No. 24 San Miguel jersey of his coach Norman Black, had time to roll in a two-handed double-pump dunk but drew just 47 points from the judges to lose by just a point.

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Who’s the better player, Ken Bono or Samuel Ekwe?

Who owns the loudest roar, the Tigers of Santo Tomas or the Lions of San Beda? Who’s the better league, the UAAP or the NCAA?

These and more are the backdrops as the best and the brightest of the top two collegiate leagues in the land clash on Saturday in the Bantay Bata 163 All-Stars at the Philsports Arena (formerly ULTRA).

Most Valuable Player (MVP) Bono will lead the UAAP pack that includes fellow Mythical First Team awardees Jervy Cruz of victorious UST, JC Intal of Ateneo de Manila, Marvin Cruz of State U and Jeff Chan of Far Eastern U.

Ekwe, the Nigerian 6’8” behemoth who was this year’s rookie-MVP for triumphant San Beda, on the other hand, will spearhead the NCAA side along with teammate Yousif Aljamal, Jason Castro of Philippine Christian U, Floyd Dedicatoria of Jose Rizal and Khiel Misa of Perpetual Help.

Pido Jarencio of UST will coach the UAAP boys while Koy Banal of San Beda will be the bench tactician of the NCAA quintet.

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After guiding Philippine Christian University (PCU) to a second-place finish in the recent 82nd National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament, Joel Dualan is expected to return next season as the Dolphins’ fulltime coach.

Normally, according to PCU athletic director and NCAA management committee (MANCOM) member Fred Olano, the Taft-based school hires a coach three months before the start of a new season.

But as a gesture of appreciation, PCU is expected to make an offer this early.

“It’s also something of a reward for him after he helped the Dolphins reach the Finals. Though we fell short of winning the championship, it’s already a big achievement for us considering he’s a rookie coach,” said Olano.

Not many expected PCU to reach the Finals when, two days before the start of the season, Junel Baculi stepped down as coach due to health condition, leaving the Dolphins without any option but to elevate Dualan.

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Jose Rizal University (JRU), a late-bloomer in this year’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) basketball competition, topped the ranking among non-seeded teams in the 4th Collegiate Champions League.

The Heavy Bombers of coach Ariel Vanguardia gathered 29 votes from the sports media who attended the lunch hosted by Solar Sports yesterday at the National Sports Grill.

They ended their campaign in the 82nd season of the oldest collegiate league in the land with victories over heavyweights Philippine Christian University (PCU) and Mapua.

Also getting wildcard tickets were defending Colleges and Universities Sports Association (CUSA) champion Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI) and University Athletics Association of the Philippines’ (UAAP) National University (NU). The Admirals got 19 votes while the Bulldogs received 12.

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The heartbreaks, the disappointing campaigns and the painful defeats for almost three decades are finally over for San Beda.

The Red Lions, however, went through 40 heart-pounding minutes of basketball hell, a near endgame collapse and a gritty Philippine Christian University (PCU) squad to clinch the 82nd National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball championship Friday night before a delirious San Beda crowd at the Araneta Coliseum.

Game 3 proved to be every inch a sudden-death match worthy of a classic finale as the two teams battled furiously for the championship up to the final buzzer. And when the smoke from the hoop war cleared, it saw San Beda standing triumphantly on the hardcourt with a nail-biting 68-67 win that finally ended the team’s 28-year title drought.

It was the Mendiola-based team’s first championship since 1978 and 12th overall in the NCAA.

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