Green, not Red, in Season 70

By Ian Brion
Business Mirror
October 8, 2007



De La Salle is champion anew, and the drought and misery continues for University of the East (UE).

The Green Archers used their championship experience to the hilt to complete a monumental upset of the Red Warriors, 73-64, and cap their return with a title conquest of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Season 70 men’s basketball tournament yesterday at an overflow Araneta Coliseum.

It was the Taft-based Green-and-White’s seventh title—eighth including the crown they returned in 2004—since joining the league in 1986. It came right after the school was suspended a year for fielding two ineligible players, also in men’s basketball.

For UE, it was a dream that turned into a nightmare. The Red Warriors blew what was their best chance ever of ending a 22-year title drought, the third longest in the league.

A JUBILANT Green Archers pile up on each other after toppling the Red Warriors in Game Two yesterday. --NONOY LACZA



“The experience factor is glaring. We saw that they were tight and we capitalized on it. We worked hard and prepared hard for the tournament and my players deserve the spotlight,” said coach Franz Pumaren, who won his first “official” title since piloting De La Salle to four straight starting in 1998.

“This victory is bitter sweet,” added the veteran mentor, who denied his younger brother Dindo a place in history. “This is the first time I felt this way after winning the finals. It’s hard going up against a brother. But not to take anything from them, UE played well and gave us a good series.”

The Green Archers have also won titles in 1989 and 1990.

Ace playmaker TY Tang agreed that experience was the key.

“I think it’s our experience that brought us this championship,” said the veteran point guard.

“We know that UE is a very strong team as proven by their 14-0 sweep. But we know that this is the first time that they are playing in the finals, so we, especially me, Jayvee [Casio] and Cholo [Villanueva] used our experience of playing in the finals before, and I guess that carried us,” added Tang, whose two free throws with 1:28 left ignited De La Salle’s closing 12-4 run. He finished with eight points, five rebounds and four assists in his last UAAP game.

Casio poured in nine of his 17 points in the final quarter, while Villanueva finished with 14 points on six-of-nine shooting from the field to lead the Archers. The two were later named the co-Finals Most Valuable Players.

Both teams started out flat with neither scoring in the first three minutes of the contest.

De La Salle drew first blood on a split charity by James Mangahas. UE made the first burst, an 8-0 run, before the Green Archers countered with a 14-3 blast of their own to stay in command after the first quarter, 15-11.

After a jumper by Kelvin Gregorio that put UE to within two, 16-18, with 8:17 in the second period, the Archers held the Warriors scoreless for more than six minutes. During that span, De La Salle unleashed 12 straight points for the biggest lead of the game—and UE’s largest deficit of the season. Halftime had De La Salle ahead, 34-23.

A 10-0 binge to open the final half put UE to within one, 33-34, but a short jumper by Villanueva coupled by a three-point play by Casio set an 18-12 exchange that gave De La Salle a 52-45 advantage going into the payoff period.

A four-point spread by Paul Lee put UE to within two, 61-59, with 3:22 remaining. But Lee and Mark Borboran missed back-to-back triples as De La Salle scored five straight capped by Casio’s shot-clock beating floater with 51 seconds to go to all but settle the final score.

Lee and Borboran had 12 points apiece to lead the Red Warriors, who were all in tears as they sang their school hymn for the last time this season.

And so, UE now has the forgettable distinction of being the first team to sweep the elimination only to be swept in the finals.

UE simply could not handle the tremendous pressure of the finals. Perhaps, the three-week layoff between their last elimination game and the title match weighed down on the Red Warriors

From the league-best output of 85.2 points per game in the eliminations, the Red Warriors could only norm 63.5 points in two games in the finals.