Archers, Maroons go for first blood in UAAP finals trilogy

Games Wednesday (December 10)

(Mall of Asia Arena)

10 a.m. – 16U boy and women’s invididual awarding ceremony

11 a.m. – FEU-D vs NUNS (16U boys)

1 p.m. – NU vs UST (women)

4 p.m. – UP vs DLSU (men)

MANILA, Philippines — Titleholder University of the Philippines and La Salle waltz in another “Last Dance” to settle an unfinished business in an ultimate bid to be crowned as the UAAP’s best.

As bumpy as their campaigns were after winless starts, the stars have aligned after all for a trilogy starting Thursday in Game 1 of the UAAP Season 88 men’s basketball finals at the Mall of Asia Arena.

War erupts at 4 p.m. with their armies clad in Maroon and Green in an expected sellout crowd behind for the third installment of brewing rivalry after splitting the crown in the last two seasons.

Last season’s champion UP, in its fifth straight finals, eyes its second straight crown and fifth overall in history, while La Salle, winner of Season 86, seeks redemption for an 11th title bid—in its 19th finals appearance as the most in the league.

But as epic and pressuring the trilogy narrative is, coach Goldwin Monteverde urges his wards to focus on one thing that only matters—themselves.

“As we always do, ang unang iisipin namin ay ‘yung sarili namin. Ang focus namin ay ‘yung mga lapses namin. Whatever happens, kailangan tulloy-tuloy lang ‘yung pag-improve namin. ‘Yun lang talaga mindset namin,” he said as UP shook up a slow start into the season to still make it on top.

UP, after losing Finals MVP JD Cagulangan and Quentin Millora-Brown, started winless at 0-2 before slowly but surely regaining fine form capped by an 82-81 escape act from University of Santo Tomas in the semis.

Led by Harold Alarcon, Gerry Abadiano and Francis Nnoruka, the Fighting Maroons had a twice-to-beat incentive as the No. 2 seed like the top-ranked National University Bulldogs, who on the other hand were on the receiving end of the Green Archers’ stellar run.

Like UP, La Salle had a flat start at 2-3 and was pushed to the brink with near elimination after the injuries of Kean Baclaan and Mason Amos before getting its acts together in the nick of time.

The Green Archers claimed two straight wins in the elims punctuated by a 78-72 victory over archrival Ateneo Blue Eagles to catch the last bus into the Final Four, where they erased the Bulldogs’ twice-to-beat edge, 87-77 and 78-73.

That proved as the ultimate pedigree for La Salle, which welcomed back Amos and Baclaan in a perfect time to complete its quartet of stars including Mike Philips and Jacob Cortez, who brought them home with a heroic performance for career-best 29 points.

And there is no turning back for La Salle to cap a Cinderella run, even if it means coming at the jaws of the UP juggernaut once more.

“I think the most important thing is respect. We really respect UP so much. It’s their fifth straight Finals appearance, so that’s really huge for a program. It’s really gonna be a good challenge for us as a team,” vowed mentor Topex Robinson.

“Personally, as a coach, as well, I can learn from somebody who’s been there five times. Hindi chamba yun. They really are a good staff that he has there, and a good support group as well. But we also have to take into consideration that we’re also happy to be here. We also wanted to be in the Finals," Robinson said.

Meanwhile, NU goes for the jugular at 1 p.m. against erstwhile unbeaten UST in Game 2 of the women’s finals for a back-to-back and ninth overall title bid in the last 11 seasons.

The Lady Bulldogs took an 84-79 win against the Growling Tigresses, who swept the elims, 14-0, to earn an outright final berth.

"Mindset, of course, is hindi namin iisipin na magiging madali. Hindi namin iisipin na magiging madali yung Game 2. I know that we want to win sa next game, pero our focus should be on UST coming out really hard on Game 2. Focus and effort pa rin kailangan nila ibigay, and even more, sa pinakita nila this game," said coach DA Olan, who took over from Aris Dimaunahan this season.

NU-Nazareth School aims for the similar mission at 11 a.m. to atone for NU’s exit in the men’s when it shoots for a 16-0 sweep against Far Eastern University-Diliman in the U16 finals after a 74-49 win in Game 1.

The awarding ceremony for the U16 and women’s division MVP, Rookies of the Year and Elite Team members is set at 10 a.m.

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Archers overcome Bulldogs, forge UAAP finals trilogy vs Maroons

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