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DE LA
SALLE is champion anew, and the drought and misery
continues for University of the East (UE).
The
Green Archers used their championship experience to the
hilt to complete a monumental upset of the Red Warriors,
73-64, and cap their return with a title conquest of the
University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP)
Season 70 men’s basketball tournament yesterday at an
overflow Araneta Coliseum.
It was
the Taft-based Green-and-White’s seventh title—eighth
including the crown they returned in 2004—since joining
the league in 1986. It came right after the school was
suspended a year for fielding two ineligible players,
also in men’s basketball.
For UE,
it was a dream that turned into a nightmare. The Red
Warriors blew what was their best chance ever of ending
a 22-year title drought, the third longest in the
league.
A JUBILANT Green Archers
pile up on each other after toppling the Red Warriors in
Game Two yesterday.
--NONOY LACZA
“The
experience factor is glaring. We saw that they were
tight and we capitalized on it. We worked hard and
prepared hard for the tournament and my players deserve
the spotlight,” said coach Franz Pumaren, who won his
first “official” title since piloting De La Salle to
four straight starting in 1998.
“This
victory is bitter sweet,” added the veteran mentor, who
denied his younger brother Dindo a place in history.
“This is the first time I felt this way after winning
the finals. It’s hard going up against a brother. But
not to take anything from them, UE played well and gave
us a good series.”
The
Green Archers have also won titles in 1989 and 1990.
Ace
playmaker TY Tang agreed that experience was the key.
“I think
it’s our experience that brought us this championship,”
said the veteran point guard.
“We know
that UE is a very strong team as proven by their 14-0
sweep. But we know that this is the first time that they
are playing in the finals, so we, especially me, Jayvee
[Casio] and Cholo [Villanueva] used our experience of
playing in the finals before, and I guess that carried
us,” added Tang, whose two free throws with 1:28 left
ignited De La Salle’s closing 12-4 run. He finished with
eight points, five rebounds and four assists in his last
UAAP game.
Casio
poured in nine of his 17 points in the final quarter,
while Villanueva finished with 14 points on six-of-nine
shooting from the field to lead the Archers. The two
were later named the co-Finals Most Valuable Players.
Both
teams started out flat with neither scoring in the first
three minutes of the contest.
De La
Salle drew first blood on a split charity by James
Mangahas. UE made the first burst, an 8-0 run, before
the Green Archers countered with a 14-3 blast of their
own to stay in command after the first quarter, 15-11.
After a
jumper by Kelvin Gregorio that put UE to within two,
16-18, with 8:17 in the second period, the Archers held
the Warriors scoreless for more than six minutes. During
that span, De La Salle unleashed 12 straight points for
the biggest lead of the game—and UE’s largest deficit of
the season. Halftime had De La Salle ahead, 34-23.
A 10-0
binge to open the final half put UE to within one,
33-34, but a short jumper by Villanueva coupled by a
three-point play by Casio set an 18-12 exchange that
gave De La Salle a 52-45 advantage going into the payoff
period.
A
four-point spread by Paul Lee put UE to within two,
61-59, with 3:22 remaining. But Lee and Mark Borboran
missed back-to-back triples as De La Salle scored five
straight capped by Casio’s shot-clock beating floater
with 51 seconds to go to all but settle the final score.
Lee and
Borboran had 12 points apiece to lead the Red Warriors,
who were all in tears as they sang their school hymn for
the last time this season.
And so,
UE now has the forgettable distinction of being the
first team to sweep the elimination only to be swept in
the finals.
UE
simply could not handle the tremendous pressure of the
finals. Perhaps, the three-week layoff between their
last elimination game and the title match weighed down
on the Red Warriors
From the
league-best output of 85.2 points per game in the
eliminations, the Red Warriors could only norm 63.5
points in two games in the finals. |
