IT was a title showdown between two great rivals and two storied schools that was 36 years in the making. on Wednesday when they—the top-seed Growling Tigers of University of Santo Tomas (UST) and the second-ranked Tamaraws of Far Eastern University (FEU)—came to blows again, the hard court shook and trembled under their feet, and the ground cracked and buckled.
In the last thundering days of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines’s (UAAP’s) 78th season, they mesmerized. It was worthy of Ridley Scott in the bold, sweeping scope of his cinematic masterpiece, Gladiator.
The last of the great FEU coaches to slay the Growling Tigers (then known as the Glowing Goldies) in a title series was Arturo Valenzona of Yco fame, and he was in the stands.
Leaner, graying, hair closely cropped, but, otherwise alert and animated, he was caught on television occasionally flashing that smile that could turn into a smirk any moment. Seated beside him was one of his best players of the team that massacred UST in that final, 100-89, the dusky ball distributor Arturo Cristobal.
These are legends of the famed green jerseys that have won more titles in the UAAP than the white and gold jerseys. Did their presence spark their old team into some frenzied action when UST, which trailed by 14 points once early in the game, came alive?
Or were they even recognizable in a crowd of 18,000 fans that packed the Mall of Asia Arena? Being an old-fashioned fan in awe of the legends, and their tradition, I believe their old magic rubbed off on current breed of what we once called the Morayta boys.
With their shooting falling to as low as 21 percent in the third canto, from as high as 51 percent in the first half, the Tamaraws squandered a 47-34 first half lead. UST revived its slumbering offense, its scoring coming in two bursts, like the great cat trying twice to take down its prey through its most vulnerable spot.
First the Growling Tigers pulled off two steals to trigger a nine-point run, and when the score stood at 54-45, they went on a more murderous show of scoring.
They unleashed a 13-point barrage with their defense on the Tamaraws doing half the damage. FEU managed only one basket and a split charity during that stretch, and the game was tied, 57-all at the start of the fourth canto.
This was crunch time for either team. With momentum on its side, UST stood on the cusp of taking Game One, and historic edge in a short best-of-three series. Teams that won the series opener historically had a 75-percent chance of bagging the championship.
But with a little less than six minutes to go, UST’s terrific effort faded when its first five became terribly winded. Kevin Ferrer was hitting shots but began to miss more of them. Ed Daquioag, a certified terrific scorer, melted under pressure and went one-for-seven shooting to go with two charities.
Center Karim Abdul, a force inside, was almost spent. Abdul played 36 minutes, Ferrer 33 and Daquioag 29. Of the nine UST players in the rotation, six played at least 21 minutes.
The Tamaraws have not won a battle against the Growling Tigers this season. This hardly mattered. Watching this new generation of Tamaraws, I sensed in them something of the old gutsy blood running through their veins.
For when the game that had the makings of a rout in the first half, turned into a thrilling slugfest, heroes emerged: Mac Belo, Mike Tolomia and Prince Orizu. They turned on the heat when the guns of Roger Pogoy went cold.
Tolomia, checked by UST’s scrambling press in the first half, collared a long rebound off his own miss and took the ball straight to the hoop. It was the spark. A little less than six minutes remained in the game clock, and FEU owned the rest of the way.
Tolomia and Belo, who came off the bench, combined for all but two of FEU’s last 11 points so that the Tamaraws finished the game the way they started it—on fire. Belo shot 13 points and even more remarkably chalked up 13 boards.
In basketball, the stark truth is that the team that controls the boards is the team that controls its pace. The Tamaraws had size and they dominated the boards, a huge factor that sent them running in their transition offense.
They collared 56 rebounds, routing the Tigers who had only 32. That gave FEU an incredible 24-rebound edge.
“It’s not all about scoring,” said Orizu, who had 10 points and nine rebounds besides being a force in defense. “We have to get the rebounds.”
Nash Racela, who orchestrated this epic performance from the bench, recognized this, even as he stressed that it was the team’s defense that killed UST. “This has been an underrated defensive team. But they worked hard on defense at the start of the game, and it showed today.”
The Tamaraws could sweep the best-of-three tomorrow, or the Growling Tigers could take the series to a winner-take-all affair. Even with FEU’s edge, even with the tide of history favoring the Game One winner, this series could be headed to the full stretch.
But first the Espana boys have to produce their magic not just for two quarters but for the entire game as well. That much Ferrer, UST’s heart and soul, has vowed. “Well work it out,” he said, “focus on it.”