Friday, May 13, 2022

Congratulations UP! UAAP Season 84 Men's Basketball Champions!

Congratulations to the UP Fighting Maroons for winning the UAAP men's basketball tournament! Amazing!

This was such an amazing win on so many levels. The last time the UP men's basketball team won the UAAP championship was in 1986, back when Benjie Paras, Ronnie Magsanoc, and Eric Altamirano played for the team under Coach Joe Lipa. More recently, UP had been knocking on the door of greatness in the previous two UAAP seasons but were unable to take it home. They lost to Ateneo in the finals of season 81 and in season 82, they were second after the elimination round but lost twice to UST during the stepladder semifinals. (Season 83 was not held due to the pandemic.)

In the final, they also had to contend with Ateneo Blue Eagles, a team that had won the last three seasons and went undefeated in the most recent one. In fact, Ateneo was favored to win, being at the top of the standings after the elimination round. However, UP did manage to beat Ateneo by the smallest of margins, 84-83, during the second round of the eliminations. That win snapped Ateneo's 39-match winning streak that stretched all the way back to 2018. It must also have given the Fighting Maroons greater belief.

UP then had to face La Salle in the semifinals. Since they were second in the standings, they were twice to beat. But that didn't seem to faze La Salle, who beat UP 83-80 and forced a second do-or-die semifinal. And in that game, many people thought La Salle had it in the bag when they were up 70-56 with 7 minutes remaining. However, UP refused to go away and took the game 78-74, thanks in large part to the last minute heroics of Rookie of the Year Tamayo.

As if that come-from-behind win against La Salle wasn't enough, they had to do it again in the finals against Ateneo. Twice! In game 1, Ateneo was ahead 70-64 with 53 seconds left. But a 3-point-play from Lucero and a 3-point shot by Spencer allowed UP to take the game to overtime where they eventually won 81-74! Ateneo won a tight Game 2 69-66 and this meant that it would all come down to one final game to decide the championship.

Game 3 featured a major seesaw battle that saw the lead all throughout but in the final minute, Ateneo was up 59-56. However, a 3-point shot by Cansino took the game to overtime again. Ateneo had the upper hand yet again as they led 69-64 with less than 2 minutes remaining. It was then that JD Cagulangan stepped up big-time, being involved in an 8-0 run by hitting a three, making an assist to Finals MVP Diouf, and hitting another three to give UP the championship!

With the UP Fighting Maroons still pretty much intact for season 85, they must be considered a serious contender. That said, I don't even want to think about the future. For now, I will join the rest of the UP community and relish this amazing win. The team just had a magical run that involved multiple come-from-behind victories to bring home a trophy that they hadn't won in 36 years. Congratulations again, UP Fighting Maroons!

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