IN the billowing sea of blue fans in the gallery, white cardboard signs were thrust defiantly in the air. They assaulted the heavens with a prayer scrawled in blue handwriting: “We Believe.”
That was all that Ateneo had, a fistful of prayers, in the homestretch of a game the Blue Eagles desperately wanted to snatch from the precipice to force a winner-take-all in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) title series. The gods of the game simply would not listen, would not smile on them.
These Eagles had the heart but not the poise; they had their shots but could not convert when victory still looked dimly possible. They were all desire but without championship savvy, weighed down by nine first-half turnovers, including seven in the second quarter, and a horrendous shooting of 39 percent.
And so the La Salle Green Archers, whose only loss in this UAAP 79 season had been one inflicted in the elimination phase ironically by their bitter archrivals, reclaimed the glittering prize, their first crown since 2013, on college basketball’s biggest stage.
They were showered with genuine praise from Tab Baldwin of Gilas fame, the losing coach, who thought the Green Archers “were the best team all year long.” But this had been a hard-fought series, the first game exceptionally so. Until the final play the Ateneo faithful, the look of desperation in their eyes, shouted themselves hoarse amid the bedlam, exhorting a team that had expended itself in a rally from 14 points down.
With 1:35 left in the game, Isaac Go gave Ateneo a last-gasp hope, putting back a miss by a terribly off-form Thirdy Ravena, who misfired 10 times in 10 tries. On the return play, a streaking Ben Mbala caught a bullet-like pass from Jeron Teng off a La Salle fast break, fumbled a bit but sailed through for a basket that hit Ateneo like a dagger. It finally repulsed Ateneo’s final run that had cut the gap to four points, 69-73.
Mbala then stole a bad Ateneo inbound under the goal, got fouled and pumped in two charities for 77-69, only 71 seconds left in the game. Ateneo’s spirit lived briefly on a three-pointer by Rafael Verano, but they would not score again, missing all of five shots, three from three-point range.
When Mbala collared the last rebound for La Salle after Ateneo’s final three-point miss, white confetti rained on the hardcourt and the roiling sea of green on one side of the Smart Araneta Coliseum gallery rose up in a tsunami of celebration.
“We embraced the pressure all season long,” winning coach Aldin Ayo beamed.
It was a point that Baldwin conceded without bitterness. Though the Archers won by a sweep, Baldwin said, “They had to fight hard to win this championship, and they showed a lot of character in doing that.”
“I thought all of their guys did a great job and they’re an outstanding group of players,” Baldwin said. “…[W]e did our best to make it tough, to some degree we did, but they were the better team.”
That was because the Archers had two of the season’s best players and some of the league’s best defenders and best role players.
They did it with their prized Cameroonian center Mbala, a man of steel off both boards who was finally green-lighted to unleash his form after being on the sidelines for three seasons. In this game he played his normal pace—a fearless and immovable force as usual on the court, tallying 18 points and 10 rebounds for his 17th straight double double this year.
Amid the celebration, he fought off tears of joy but couldn’t, and told reporters, “If you saw me before the game, I was crying. After the game, I was crying.” That was because he was coming out after three seasons “without playing,” a long wait to gain residency and eligibility.
“It was really hard. Coming in with the championship, it was really sweet, especially we got it against Ateneo,” said Mbala, the season MVP awardee.
They did it with Teng, who emerged as the finals Most Valuable Player. Cockily confident with a swagger to boot, he had promised to play his biggest game. He didn’t, because he surpassed himself.
In a blistering start, he played like a man possessed who showed no respect for the defense. From all angles he banged in 19 points on nine-of-14 shooting and a 69-percent clip in the first half on the way to a career scoring night of 28 points. “Ito ang last game ko. I want to go all-out,” he said.
An emotional Baldwin embraced him like Teng was the player he had coveted all season long to lead his young and spirited Blue Eagles. “Jeron today was unbelievable,” he said. “He was the guy they went to. They recognized that their title hopes lie on his shoulders, and he delivered.”
They did it with Rookie of the Year Aljun Melecio, whose three-point shot opened La Salle’s second biggest lead of the night at 65-52. They did it with the scrappy Kip Montalbo, a stalwart in the team’s “mayhem” defense.
A loss is a loss but to Baldwin, the Blue Eagles goals “were beyond what we achieved.” They were not out to win a championship, he explained, only to “grow as individuals and as a team.”
Their response next year will be eagerly awaited by the champions and by the challengers. If Baldwin will keep his job, and he gets to keep the core of this young team, the Blue Eagles might grow into a real championship-caliber team.