2003 Letran Knights basketball team
# 2003 Letran Knights basketball team

The 2003 Letran Knights men's basketball team represented Colegio de San Juan de Letran in the 79th season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the Philippines. The men's basketball tournament for the school year 2003-04 began on June 28, 2003, and the host school for the season was San Sebastian College – Recoletos.

The Knights finished the double round-robin eliminations at first place with 9 wins against 5 losses. They then eliminated the Mapúa Cardinals in the Final Four to advance in the finals and faced the hosts and two-time defending champions San Sebastian Stags.

The Knights went on to defeat the Stags in three games to capture their 15th NCAA championship, ending their three-year title drought. Ronjay Enrile was named Finals Most Valuable Player and member of the Mythical Five.

## Roster

### Depth chart

| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 |
| - | - | - | - |
| C | Rodriguez | Reyes | Calindoy |
| PF | Pinera | Anabo | Ebajay |
| SF | Enrile | Aldave | Realista |
| SG | Aban | Santos | Quinday |
| PG | Bautista | Fedelicio | Balneg |

## NCAA Season 79 games results

Elimination games were played in a double round-robin format. All games were aired on Studio 23.

| Date | Time | Opponent | Venue | Result | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| First round of eliminations ||||||
| Jun 28 | 6:00 p.m. | Mapúa Cardinals | Araneta Coliseum • Quezon City | L 58–66 | 0–1 |
| Game Highs: Points: Enrile – 20 ||||||
| Jul 4 | 4:00 p.m. | San Beda Red Lions | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W 69–63 | 1–1 |
| Jul 9 | 2:00 p.m. | Benilde Blazers | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W 77–75 | 2–1 |
| Jul 14 | 4:00 p.m. | San Sebastian Stags | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W 73–64 | 3–1 |
| Jul 16 | 4:00 p.m. | JRU Heavy Bombers | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | L 67–78 | 3–2 |
| Jul 23 | 4:00 p.m. | Perpetual Altas | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W 68–66 | 4–2 |
| Jul 30 | 2:00 p.m. | PCU Dolphins | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W 84–72 | 5–2 |
| First place after 1st round (5 wins–2 losses) ||||||
| Second round of eliminations ||||||
| Aug 6 | 2:00 p.m. | Perpetual Altas | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W 60–56 | 6–2 |
| Aug 13 | 4:00 p.m. | Mapúa Cardinals | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | L 65–77 | 6–3 |
| Aug 18 | 4:00 p.m. | San Beda Red Lions | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W 76–65 | 7–3 |
| Aug 22 | 4:00 p.m. | Benilde Blazers | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | L 72–90 | 7–4 |
| Aug 27 | 4:00 p.m. | PCU Dolphins | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W $94–90^{OT}$ | 8–4 |
| Game Highs: Points: Enrile – 36; Rebounds: Enrile – 9; Assists: Enrile – 9 ||||||
| Aug 29 | 2:00 p.m. | San Sebastian Stags | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | L 61–63 | 8–5 |
| Sep 3 | 2:00 p.m. | JRU Heavy Bombers | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W 80–78 | 9–5 |
| Game Highs: Points: Aban – 20 ||||||
| First place at 9 wins–5 losses (4 wins–3 losses in the 2nd round) ||||||
| Final Four ||||||
| Sep 10 | 2:00 p.m. | Mapúa Cardinals | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W 72–66 | 1–0 (10–5) |
| Letran wins series in one game ||||||
| Finals ||||||
| Sep 17 | 4:00 p.m. | San Sebastian Stags | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | W 89–73 | 1–0 (11–5) |
| Game Highs: Points: Enrile – 24 ||||||
| Sep 19 | 4:00 p.m. | San Sebastian Stags | Rizal Memorial Coliseum • Manila | L 77–85 | 1–1 (11–6) |
| Game Highs: Points: Enrile – 22 ||||||
| Sep 24 | 3:00 p.m. | San Sebastian Stags | Cuneta Astrodome • Pasay | W 64–59 | 2–1 (12–6) |
| Game Highs: Points: Bautista, Enrile – 19; Rebounds: Rodriguez – 14 ||||||
| Knights clinched 15th NCAA championship ||||||

Times listed above are in UTC+08:00

* ↑ Head-to-head record: Letran 1-1 San Sebastian; Letran +7
* ↑ Letran held a twice-to-beat advantage over Mapúa

## Awards

| Player | Award |
| - | - |
| Ronjay Enrile | NCAA Finals Most Valuable Player |
| Ronjay Enrile | NCAA Mythical Five member |

## Injuries

Letran forward Aaron Aban suffered a deep cut on his left knee when he slammed into a rolltec advertising streamer during a match against CSB Blazers in the first round. Aban underwent surgery and needed a month to recuperate.

