La Salle-Ateneo 3: Mother of all battles

MANILA, Philippines — Rivals La Salle and Ateneo couldn’t have picked a better way to settle the score.

It’s down to Game Three, the Granddaddy of all games in UAAP Season 80 men’s basketball tourney, D-Day, winner takes all.

Locked in a standoff after two hardly fought contests, the Green Archers and the Blue Eagles engage one last time with the ultimate prize on the line today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Throw the stats, the previous results, out the window; it now boils down to heart and desire.

“You know, coming to Game Two, we didn’t come to lose the game; everyone wants to win the championship. For Game Three, it’s not like we’ll go out there and be like ‘we won Game Two, I got the MVP’ and that’s it. No, we’re here to be champions and that’s what we all work for. We’ll come out and try to grab the trophy,” said DLSU ace Ben Mbala.

The back-to-back-seeking Archers sent the duel down to a KO match after wiping out a 21-point deficit to take Game Two, 92-83. The Eagles, who took the opener, 76-70, aren’t beating themselves too much over the bungled closeout.

“It’s another opportunity for us to showcase our talent, especially in a do-or-die game, for both of us,” said AdMU skipper Mike Nieto. “The one who wanted it more will win this one and we promise you, we’ll fight.”

As in previous AdMU-DLSU confrontations, the one that can rise above the hoopla gets the edge.

“When you play Ateneo, there’s no underdog, no one has the upperhand. Everyone can blow you out, everyone can play like a champion,” said Mbala, who was slowed down to a career-low eight in DLSU’s Game One loss.

“So when you go out there, you give your everything, the crowd is crazy, everyone wants to win it, everyone’s diving for the ball and its pretty crazy, we have to find a way to stay focused and do whatever we have to do,” he added.