last time José Rizal won a championship. Years later the two teams again figured in a mini rivalry, San Sebastian's Paul Alvarez and José Rizal's Vergel Meneses figured in a PABL Slam Dunk contest in 1987 in which Meneses won the contest. As contrasted with SSC-R's five consecutive championships in the 1990s, JRC continued to struggle and not until 1999 where the Heavy Bombers made it to the finals but lost to the defending champion Letran Knights. In 2000, the Golden Stags and the Heavy Bombers met in the Final Four. JRC clinched the 1 seed while SSC-R got the 4th seed. The Stags defeated the Bombers twice to advance to the Finals against CSB. Thus, the Stags became the second (Letran did the trick in 1999 also against the Stags) 4th seed to upset the 1st seed in the Final Four. SSC-R and JRU also met in the 2001 Finals. JRU was bannered by Ariel Capus, season MVP Ernani Epondulan, Rodel Milla, Joel Finuliar and razzle dazzle pointguard Erwin Estebal while San Sebastian was led by Mark Macapagal, Christian Coronel and Jam Alfad. JRU lost in the series, which included a 33-point blowout loss in the deciding Game 3. Coronel was named as the 2001 NCAA Finals MVP. The rivalry continued during Final Four appearances of both schools from 2002 and 2003. Not until the 2007 NCAA season when San Sebastian's Final Four chances was denied by José Rizal via a 7-point winning margin in a come from behind victory. The Stags was ahead by 7 points against the Heavy Bombers 1:10 to go in regulation. José Rizal capitalized on the errors of San Sebastian and force an overtime to win the game. This allowed JRU to grab the number 3 spot in the Final Four. JRU had another part in eliminating SSC-R in the 2008 season when they were tied for the number 2 seed with two other teams; in the ensuing classification playoffs JRU and San Sebastian met in the first round to decide which team will figure in a playoff for the No. 2 seed; the Heavy Bombers won the game and relegated San Sebastian to the fourth-seed playoffs where they were eliminated. In 2009 San Sebastian and JRU renewed their rivalry once again in the Final Four wherein a Jimbo Aquino-less-Golden Stags (whose serving a one game-suspension after committing a flagrant foul against San Beda