Surprise, surprise

It seemed like a sweep was inevitable, considering Ateneo’s dominance in the UAAP Season 84 men’s basketball competition. But in the last game of the double-round eliminations at the MOA Arena last Sunday, UP played spoiler and tarnished the Blue Eagles’ perfect record via an 84-83 cliffhanger to prevent a stepladder format in the Final Four. An Ateneo win would’ve catapulted coach Tab Baldwin’s squad straight into the finals, leaving No. 3 La Salle and No. 4 FEU to battle in a KO game for the right to face No. 2 UP with the Maroons enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage.

UP saved La Salle and FEU from a KO showdown, sending both to the semis instead. Now, No. 1 Ateneo will face FEU and No. 2 UP will tangle with La Salle in the semis. The lower seeds need to win twice to make it to the finals. In the previous Season 82, No. 2 UP had a twice-to-beat advantage over No. 4 UST in round two of the stepladder playoffs but the Tigers pulled a major upset, beating the Maroons twice, 89-69 and 68-65. UP will keep that reversal in mind when the Maroons take on the Archers.

A sweep would’ve spared Ateneo from going through the semis but still, the Eagles are heavily favored to turn back FEU. They’ve got two chances to nail just one win over the Tamaraws to return to the finals. Ateneo beat FEU twice in the elims, 79-70 and 70-53. But FEU looked extremely dangerous in cracking UST, 109-65, last Sunday with four players scoring in double figures led by Bryan Sajonia’s 27. The Tamaraws knocked down 13 triples with Sajonia contributing seven, RJ Abarrientos and Xyrus Torres two each and Patrick Sleat and Rodel Gravera one apiece.

Ateneo has won the last three championships so the Eagles are looking to make it a four-peat. La Salle took the Season 79 crown and FEU, Season 78. UP hasn’t won since Season 49 or in 1986-87 so the Maroons are hungry to ascend the throne. UP coach Goldwyn Monteverde is making a splash in his debut at the senior level as the Maroons lost only twice in the elims, once to Ateneo and once to Adamson. Five players are averaging at least nine points a game, showing a balance that keeps opposing teams guessing on defense. Two rookies are setting the pace in the scoring department with Zavier Lucero averaging 13.4 points and Carl Tamayo, 13.1. Then there’s graduating Ricci Rivero averaging 13.07. Down the line are CJ Cansino (9.3) and Maodo Diouf (9.1). UP basketball program director Bo Perasol has assembled a cast with the potential to put the Maroons back on top of the roost.

La Salle returns in the Final Four after missing out the last two seasons and with coach Derick Pumaren back at the helm, the Archers are dreaming of overachieving. The challenge is repulsing UP twice in the semis. La Salle lost two nail-biters to the Maroons in the elims, 61-59 and 72-69 so the Archers have yet to take down UP this season. Both La Salle and UP are coming off rousing wins to end the elims last Sunday so it’s a toss-up as to which side has momentum as an advantage. UP is at a high after defeating Ateneo while La Salle eliminated NU, 76-65, with leading scorers Deschon Winston and Justine Baltazar sidelined on the bench.