MANILA -- Departing San Sebastian coach Ato Agustin said his team’s quest for a back-to-back men’s basketball crown in the 86th National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will not be served in a silver platter this time.

This as Agustin highlighted San Beda’s advantage in terms of talent and deep bench who can deliver anytime for the squad who zoomed to the championship series via a historic 16-game sweep of the eliminations.

“It’s going to be really difficult playing San Beda because they’re not only big, they have a deep bench. The only way we can win this series is to play with a lot of heart and maybe get something out of our experience in last year’s championship,” said Agustin, whose wards upended Jose Rizal University in the last stepladder semifinal game last Friday to barge into the finals.

The 47-year-old mentor will end his coaching chores with the Recoletos-based cagers after accepting the offer to be the head bench tactician of San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA).

Game time is set at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum, which will be preceded by Game One of the juniors division finals between San Beda Cubs and San Sebastian Staglets and the annual institutional awards. (Virgil Lopez/Sunnex)