Teng vs Teng in La Salle-UST best-of-three

MANILA, Philippines - When it was imminent that fourth seed University of Santo Tomas was headed to the UAAP Season 76 finals against waiting La Salle, a split screen featuring Tiger Jeric Teng on the bench and Archer Jeron Teng on the patron seats was shown.

It drew loud applause from those at the Mall of Asia Arena and probably more watching on TV who anticipated a sibling rivalry in the final battle for the crown, a rare occurrence in the league. Teng versus Teng. Gold versus green.

“Siempre happy ako dahil yun ang last wish ng brother ko before he ends his college career na makaabot ng finals at magkalaban pa kami (I’m happy for my brother because it’s his wish to reach the finals before he ends his college career and our teams and we’re even fighting it out for the crown),” said Jeron.

The La Salle star and his teammates got to the finals first after making short work of Far Eastern, 71-68, while Jeric’s Tigers pack had to beat top seed National U twice (71-62 and 76-69) before advancing to the championship, the first ever No. 4 seed to do so in the Final Four.

“Sinabi niya sa akin nung manalo sila na hihintayin niya ako sa finals. Sabi ko God’s will na lang yan, kung gusto Niya pumasok kami. Thankfully, pumasok naman (After La Salle advanced, he said he’ll wait for me in the finals. I responded if it’s God’s will, then it will happen. Thankfully, it did),” said Jeric.

The brothers, who were used to playing with each other in their younger days, expect a competitive finals showdown.

“Syempre gustong gusto nila mag-champion dahil matagal na ring hindi nag-champion ng La Salle. Kami gustong gusto rin namin mag-champion, lalo pa ngayong maganda ang tinatakbo ng team namin (Both of us are hungry to win the title),” said Jeric.

“For us, it’s not going to be easy. UST is a strong team talaga. Nakita niyo naman tinalo nila ang NU twice (They beat top seed NU twice) so UST is a tough team to beat,” said Jeric.

They won’t be primarily matched up defensively, though as UST enforcer Kevin Ferrer is expected to guard Jeron with teammate Jeric providing help every now and then.

“Pag may switch sa depensa, kami na. Pero si Kevin na ang magbabantay dun, aasarin ni Kevin (Kevin will be the one to pester him on defense, I’ll just defend him when there’s a switch),” said Jeric.

“Ine-expect ko si Kevin. Knowing him, pang asar talaga. Yun ang expect. Pero hindi namin maiiwasan ng kuya ko na magbantayan kami. (I expect Kevin to defend me. But my brother and I can’t really avoid guarding each other),” said Jeron.

The Teng family is expected to go neutral for this one. Whoever wins, the Teng household will emerge the big winners.

La Salle and UST are playing in their fifth finals showdown. The Tigers took the first three in 1994, 1995 ad 1996 as part of their four-peat but the Archers won the next one in 1999, with a team led by Ren Ren Ritualo and current San Juan Vice Mayor Francis Zamora.