As I was saying, De La Salle won the UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) Men’s basketball title after losing Game 1. It bounced back pretty mightily to win the next two games in the best-of-three titular showdown.
It was surreal.
De La Salle’s victory was labeled a hands-down stunning upset as University of the Philippines (UP) was heavily favored to reclaim the crown it lost to Ateneo last year. Their Game 1 result told it all when UP bamboozled De La Salle by 30 crazy points, 97-67.
When De La Salle came back strong to win Game 2, 82-60, something eerie was afoot.
Indeed, Game 3 became a battle of wits, guts and nerves but in the end, it was Kevin Quiambao’s stellar performance that fueled De La Salle’s title-clinching, 73-69 triumph.
It was fitting as Quiambao merely proved he was deserving of the UAAP’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. He played with unparalleled tenacity, as if overly emphasizing the fact that dethroning UP’s Malik Diouf as last year’s MVP was no fluke.
And now this: San Beda University (SBU) has just authored an uncanny commonality with De La Salle.
The SBU Red Lions also lost Game 1 to the Mapua Cardinals, 68-63, before sweeping the next two games to win the 99th NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Men’s basketball crown.
San Beda won Game 2, 71-65, erasing a 15-point deficit, behind the heroics of Jacob Cortez. Cortez would deliver crucial points again in the Red Lions’ title-clincher in Game 3, 76-66, as he survived leg cramps before 23,077 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
In the crowd was Jacob’s Mom, who left her home in California to watch the best-of-three title series seated at ringside beside her hubby, Mike. “Cool Cat” Mike himself was also a De La Salle star who did well in the PBA (Philippine Basketball Association).
With its 23rd win to end a five-year losing streak, San Beda became the NCAA’s winningest senior basketball team, while also cruelly inflicting on Mapua a 33-year title drought.
Now that both seasons of the UAAP and NCAA are over, let’s now focus on the most awaited moment of the year in all of Christendom: the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas!