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For the past few years, three schools—Ateneo, San Beda and San Sebastian reached collegiate basketball’s summit. It was the same story in 2011.
The Blue Eagles achieved a rare feat claiming their fourth straight UAAP title by sweeping Far Eastern University in a season of domination.
In the NCAA, the Red Lions defied all odds before and during the season to defeat San Sebastian for the title, their fifth in six years.
The Golden Stags’ NCAA defeat didn’t dishearten the team and went on to clinch the PCCL title against Ateneo to become the first NCAA team to capture the national collegiate crown.
Soaring high
From the onset, the Blue Eagles looked to have the tools of another championship run. Despite losing Eric Salamat and Ryan Buenafe on various reasons, Ateneo got a big lift when University of Visayas center Greg Slaughter became eligible to play after being red-shirted. Then Kiefer Ravena, a highly-touted guard from the Ateneo high school program, arrived.
Adding to the entry of their big time players were the improvement of Nico Salva, the defensive talents of Kirk Long and the rejuvenated playmaking skills of Eman Monfort.
The Blue Eagles steamrolled their way in the elimination round as wins kept on coming and coming. It appeared that they were invincible and were on track for a sweep of the eliminations where it merits a thrice-to-beat advantage in the finals but the Adamson Falcons shattered Ateneo's goal.
That setback proved to be an eye-opener for the Blue Eagles—they were human after all. And they used the defeat to make the adjustments and redeem themselves. They never lost a game after that.
Following a close victory over University of Santo Tomas in the Final Four, the Blue Eagles rolled their way to the top once again against the Tamaraws. They swept the title series by an average winning margin of 15.5 points per game to continue lording it over in the UAAP.
Overcoming adversity
While the Blue Eagles’ title run looked like an easy one, the Red Lions’ championship was not given on a silver platter.
Before the NCAA season opened, bad news arrived at the Lions den when 2010 Most Valuable Player (MVP) Sudan Daniel got injured and had to sit out the entire year.
With the loss of their top contributor, the Red Lions needed to rely on the other players for the season. Sweet-shooting Garvo Lanete, enforcer Dave Marcelo and Jake Pascual and the rest of the Red Lions needed to step up.
After winning the title the prior year via sweep, the Red Lions had its 26-game winning streak snapped by San Sebastian. Then in the second round, San Beda once again suffered another setback this time against the hard-fighting Jose Rizal University. That was the time the Red Lions turned things around.
San Beda racked up enough wins to arrange a playoff for the top spot against San Sebastian heading into the Final Four in which they emerged victorious. They got back at JRU in the Final Four before setting up a return match with the Stags in the finals.
During the best-of-three series, San Beda got another big boost from the bench which came at the right time with Lanete suffering an illness at that time. Mar Villahermosa took the cudgels in the series opener while Dave Semerad hit timely shots in Game 2 to sweep the Stags and claim the title proving that they can win without a foreign players’ reinforcement.
Bouncing back
San Sebastian’s NCAA loss was a disappointment for the team after being tagged as an early favorite for the title as the Stags started the season with 15 straight victories. The Stags, however, redeemed themselves in the PCCL.
Without an outright spot in the Final Four, the Stags had to go through a tough qualifying tournament in Ormoc City and beat NCAA tormentor Letran to gain a right to play the toughest teams in the land: Ateneo, San Beda and University of Cebu.
The Stags beat two out of three teams in the round-robin semis where they even scored a one-point win over Ateneo. They entered the final holding a twice-to-beat edge against the Blue Eagles.
Even though the Blue Eagles took the series opener, the Stags would not be denied as they beat the UAAP champions, 56-51, behind the efforts of 87th NCAA MVP Calvin Abueva and Ian Sangalang.
They also won the title without Ronald Pascual, who suffered an ACL injury early in the tournament. It was Topex Robinsons’ first title as a coach.
Next year, all three teams will have an intact line-up for their respective leagues. Can the result be the same in 2012? Let’s see after 12 months.
Source: JVP, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
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For the past few years, three schools—Ateneo, San Beda and San Sebastian reached collegiate basketball’s summit. It was the same story in 2011.
The Blue Eagles achieved a rare feat claiming their fourth straight UAAP title by sweeping Far Eastern University in a season of domination.
In the NCAA, the Red Lions defied all odds before and during the season to defeat San Sebastian for the title, their fifth in six years.
The Golden Stags’ NCAA defeat didn’t dishearten the team and went on to clinch the PCCL title against Ateneo to become the first NCAA team to capture the national collegiate crown.
Soaring high
From the onset, the Blue Eagles looked to have the tools of another championship run. Despite losing Eric Salamat and Ryan Buenafe on various reasons, Ateneo got a big lift when University of Visayas center Greg Slaughter became eligible to play after being red-shirted. Then Kiefer Ravena, a highly-touted guard from the Ateneo high school program, arrived.
Adding to the entry of their big time players were the improvement of Nico Salva, the defensive talents of Kirk Long and the rejuvenated playmaking skills of Eman Monfort.
The Blue Eagles steamrolled their way in the elimination round as wins kept on coming and coming. It appeared that they were invincible and were on track for a sweep of the eliminations where it merits a thrice-to-beat advantage in the finals but the Adamson Falcons shattered Ateneo's goal.
That setback proved to be an eye-opener for the Blue Eagles—they were human after all. And they used the defeat to make the adjustments and redeem themselves. They never lost a game after that.
Following a close victory over University of Santo Tomas in the Final Four, the Blue Eagles rolled their way to the top once again against the Tamaraws. They swept the title series by an average winning margin of 15.5 points per game to continue lording it over in the UAAP.
Overcoming adversity
While the Blue Eagles’ title run looked like an easy one, the Red Lions’ championship was not given on a silver platter.
Before the NCAA season opened, bad news arrived at the Lions den when 2010 Most Valuable Player (MVP) Sudan Daniel got injured and had to sit out the entire year.
With the loss of their top contributor, the Red Lions needed to rely on the other players for the season. Sweet-shooting Garvo Lanete, enforcer Dave Marcelo and Jake Pascual and the rest of the Red Lions needed to step up.
After winning the title the prior year via sweep, the Red Lions had its 26-game winning streak snapped by San Sebastian. Then in the second round, San Beda once again suffered another setback this time against the hard-fighting Jose Rizal University. That was the time the Red Lions turned things around.
San Beda racked up enough wins to arrange a playoff for the top spot against San Sebastian heading into the Final Four in which they emerged victorious. They got back at JRU in the Final Four before setting up a return match with the Stags in the finals.
During the best-of-three series, San Beda got another big boost from the bench which came at the right time with Lanete suffering an illness at that time. Mar Villahermosa took the cudgels in the series opener while Dave Semerad hit timely shots in Game 2 to sweep the Stags and claim the title proving that they can win without a foreign players’ reinforcement.
Bouncing back
San Sebastian’s NCAA loss was a disappointment for the team after being tagged as an early favorite for the title as the Stags started the season with 15 straight victories. The Stags, however, redeemed themselves in the PCCL.
Without an outright spot in the Final Four, the Stags had to go through a tough qualifying tournament in Ormoc City and beat NCAA tormentor Letran to gain a right to play the toughest teams in the land: Ateneo, San Beda and University of Cebu.
The Stags beat two out of three teams in the round-robin semis where they even scored a one-point win over Ateneo. They entered the final holding a twice-to-beat edge against the Blue Eagles.
Even though the Blue Eagles took the series opener, the Stags would not be denied as they beat the UAAP champions, 56-51, behind the efforts of 87th NCAA MVP Calvin Abueva and Ian Sangalang.
They also won the title without Ronald Pascual, who suffered an ACL injury early in the tournament. It was Topex Robinsons’ first title as a coach.
Next year, all three teams will have an intact line-up for their respective leagues. Can the result be the same in 2012? Let’s see after 12 months.
Source: JVP, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
