Green Archers, Blue Eagles dispute UAAP hoops title
AFTER eight years, archrivals De La Salle University and Ateneo University will dispute the championship in men’s basketball of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP).
While very few, if at all, saw the two meeting in the Big Dance in Season 79, both the Green Archers and Blue Eagles showed they are deserving protagonists for the UAAP title, the series of which begins tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The last time the rivals faced each other in the UAAP finals was in Season 71 when Ateneo swept La Salle to win the first of what would be five consecutive titles.
This season La Salle and Ateneo finished one and two in the standings after the elimination round with the Archers ending up with a 13-1 record and the Eagles a 10-4 card.
Ateneo dealt La Salle’s lone loss, 83-71, in the second round, avenging the 97-81 shellacking it absorbed in the first round.
The two teams had twice-tobeat advantages in the Final Four over their respective foes but Ateneo was pushed to the limit by erstwhile defending champion Far Eastern University in a pairing that went to a rubber match.
La Salle, for its part, disposed off Adamson University at the first instance.
League most valuable player Ben Mbala is leading the charge for Taft-based La Salle with averages of 20.7 points, 16 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.5 blocks.
Jeron Teng has been good for 17.5 points while rookie guard Aljun Melecio has been chipping in 8.3 points per game.
Ateneo, meanwhile, is led by Thirdy Ravena’s 10.1-point average to go along with 7.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists.
Adrian Wong has been tallying 8.9 points and 2.9 assists with Mike Nieto producing 8.3 markers and 5.4 rebounds per outing.
PROHIBITIVE UNDERDOGS
Up against the top team in the league this season, Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin said they are expecting nothing but a tough battle in the finals against La Salle.
“We are the prohibitive underdogs in the series with La Salle. But we got confidence from beating them once. At the same time, however, we know that we won’t see the same La Salle team that we faced last time in Game One,” he said after their win over FEU in their Final Four rubber match on Wednesday.
“We have some momentum going for us with the win today [against FEU] and we will stand in front of them (Archers). We will compete and won’t allow them to just pass through much like they will do the same against us,” he added.
Interestingly, both La Salle and Ateneo each has eight men’s basketball title in the UAAP, tied for fourth place all time, leaving their latest championship encounter a tie breaker.