Magnificent! Resolute! Determined! Relentless! Fearless! Valiant! Heroic!
It’s difficult to find the right word to describe this Green Archer band of brothers, who stamped their class over the S87 defending champions UP Maroons via an 80-72 knockout today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
But CHAMPION! seems like the most appropriate description.
CHAMPION! It has a nice ring to it.
Team captain and graduating senior Mike Phillips turned his final game as a Green Archer into a fitting graduation ceremony, playing his heart out to lead the Archers’ assault on the Maroons’ defenses, scoring 25 points and pulling down 18 rebounds as he played all but 2:05 minutes of the game. His massive effort galvanized his teammates in the closing minutes when UP threatened to put the game away.
The final 4 minutes were perhaps the best illustration of the Archers’ decisive closing kick and killer instinct.
The game was tied at 64-all when Remogat nailed a 3 with 4:15 left in the game, 64-67. In past games, that was the typical start of a UP endgame run, but not this time. Mason Amos, playing in his first UAAP championship series, cooly sank two free throws, then Vhoris Marasigan missed two crucial fts. It seemed like a green collapse was in the offing. Pablo was fouled hard on a loose ball, and had to be helped off the court; he was replaced by Amos who made those precious free throws.
Alarcon misfired on a jumper, before Marasigan connected on a jumper. Excellent defense forced a UP shot clock violation before Marasigan made another jumper plus a free throw to push the Archers into the lead, 71-67, 2:17 to go. That momentum swing caused the Maroons to crack under the pressure, with Abadiano missing a trey and Remogat losing the ball to Luis Pablo. Stevens was forced to foul Jacob Cortez, who split his charities, 72-67 with 1:26 left. In the ensuing play, Marasigan’s fifth foul sent Remogat to the line where he connected on both fts, 72-69.
Nnoruka quickly fouled Baclaan, sending him to the foul line. The outcome of those charities could have swayed the game in the opposite direction, so the pressure on Kean was tremendous. However, his demeanor when getting ready to shoot was telling – he was smiling. Crunch time, at the crucible, and he was smiling! Of course he made both, 74-69 with just 1:04 to go.
The next 30 seconds saw a frenetic madcap sequence, with both teams committing turnovers: a Remogat bad pass followed by a Cortez turnover, a Phillips block on Remogat, an Alarcon rebound and miss, a Stevens rebound and miss, before Mason grabbed the rebound, passed to Jacob who threw a forward pass resulting in a fastbreak layup by Macalalag, 76-69.
Usually the game is essentially over with 30 seconds and a 7-point deficit, but desperate times call for desperate measures. After a UP timeout, Torres hit a long triple with 26 seconds left, 76-72. No choice but to foul, and this time it was Mason they unfortunately chose. Facing the UP gallery behind the basket, all hellbent on distracting him, Amos flashed a smile at the UP fans before taking his shots. That should’ve been an omen to the UP faithful that this wasn’t going to end well – he cemented the win with both fts, 78-72.
Gotta give it to UP, they kept trying, but Remogat turned the ball over again, losing the ball at the sideline when confronted with a 3-man trap. Abadiano fouled Kean Baclaan, who echoed Mason’s confident smile and made charities for the final score, totally snuffing out UP’s hopes for a back-to-back.
The win was the fourth out of five games against UP this season, and is the second championship in 3 years taken at the expense of the Maroons. That’s domination. It also served as a reminder that the road to the UAAP basketball usually passes through Taft Avenue, not Diliman.
Like in game 2, UP focused on stopping Jacob Cortez, assigning Bayla for half of the game to guard him from end-to-end. Cortez still got his minutes, but the rest of the crew helped carry the load. While Mike Phillips carried the scoring load with 25 points, Amos (11), Marasigan (10), Cortez (9), Abadam (8), and Baclaan all contributed, and scrambled UP’s defenses by preventing them from focusing only on Cortez while daring his teammates to beat them.
The Archer defense was solid, particularly on the perimeter, contesting the long-distance shots UP likes to take and hounding them into a 28% clip (5/18). The greenies defended without fouling, and gifted UP with only 18 free throws. La Salle either matched or exceeded UP’s stats in rebounding, assists, turnovers, steals and blocks. The sustained and collaborative effort from all Archers all game long was the key to the successful redemption campaign.
The S88 championship is La Salle’s 11th since it joined the UAAP in 1988. That number ties Ateneo for most titles since the entry of the Archers. In that same span of years, FEU had 7, and UST had 5. Notably, all 4 schools have successfully defended their titles in consecutive years. Now that’s arguably the proper definition of a “winning tradition“, when a champion is able to successfully retain it in the next season. At the rear are are UP (2 titles) and NU (1 title), while UE and Adamson have suffered title droughts spanning over 3 decades since 1988.
It’s been a roller coaster of a season, but at the end, the good guys won.
We bid a fond farewell to our graduating seniors:
To Mike Phillips and Bright Nwankwo: may fair winds and following seas accompany you on your next journey.
To our returning players: let’s do it again next year!
ANIMO!
