Hunger Games in UAAP finale

MANILA, Philippines - For eight players, the UAAP Finals will be their last chance to win a championship before ending their varsity eligibility. So they’re determined to leave it all on the floor when UST and FEU begin their best-of-3 title quest at the Mall of Asia Arena today.

FEU’s graduating players are Mac Belo, Mike Tolomia, Russell Escoto, R. R. Pogoy and Francis Tamsi while UST’s last-year cagers are Ed Daquioag, Kevin Ferrer and Karim Abdul. The UAAP Finals will be their version of the Hunger Games as they’re going all out to finish with a bang. The other Final Four players who went ahead to close out their collegiate careers are Ateneo’s Kiefer Ravena, Von Pessumal, Gwynne Capacio and Ponzo Gotladera and NU’s Gelo Alolino, Kyle Neypes, Jeoff Javillonar and Nico Javelona.

Hunger is clearly a common thread in the Finals. The Tamaraws haven’t won since 2005-06 and the Growling Tigers’ last championship came in 2006-07. Over the last eight seasons, only three schools claimed the crown – Ateneo with five, La Salle with two and NU last year. In the last 22 years since the Final Four era began, UST has captured five titles and FEU four, including the trophy that La Salle forfeited in 2004-05.

The Tigers didn’t make it to the Final Four in 2014 while the Tams missed out in 2012 so they’re fighting for redemption. They were also close to winning the title in separate Finals appearances the last two years. In 2013, UST battled La Salle to a Game 3 and lost in overtime, 71-69, after splitting the first two encounters, 73-72 for the Tigers and 77-70 for the Archers. Last season, it was FEU’s turn to bow out in the Finals, yielding to NU in Game 3, 75-59 after winning the opener, 75-70 and losing the rematch, 62-47. FEU fell a win short of claiming the title like FEU the year before so the heartbreakers are a motivation not to let the trophy slip away again.

FEU and UST are riding on momentum entering Game 1. The Tams avoided a three-game losing skid by beating La Salle, 71-68, to close out the eliminations last Wednesday. It was a game that FEU could afford to lose since the Tams were secure at No. 2 in the standings regardless of the outcome. FEU coach Nash Racela used 14 players, 11 of whom logged at least 10 minutes, to crush La Salle’s playoff hopes. A win by La Salle would’ve given FEU an extra day of rest before starting the playoffs.

No starter was on the floor in the last minute when FEU sealed the win over the Archers. “We were managing minutes,” said Tams assistant coach Josh Reyes. “We didn’t want to push our starters too hard with the playoffs around the corner. Our reserves just refused to lose.” The loss booted La Salle out of the Final Four only for the fourth time in the last 22 years. The Archers also skipped the playoffs in 2006, 2009 and 2011. La Salle’s early exit prompted coach Juno Sauler to resign last Thursday. He formalized the resignation with a letter to La Salle patron Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. and announced it in a team meeting last Monday.

UE coach Derick Pumaren said the other day FEU has the advantage of depth in the Finals. But he pointed out that UST’s veteran starters Ferrer, Daquioag, Abdul and Louie Vigil are tough to contain.

“It’s the last chance for the graduating players to win a championship,” said Pumaren. “It has to be now. They’ll give it their all. It could come down to which team is able to hit the three consistently. UST did a good job in beating NU to start the Final Four particularly as NU is a very calculating team with no short-cuts in offense. FEU also did well in eliminating Ateneo. I felt Ateneo’s big men had to step up even with Kiefer and Von producing their usual numbers.”

UST ended the eliminations with back-to-back wins over FEU, 85-76 and Adamson, 78-63. The Tigers were the only team that FEU didn’t beat this season. UST defeated the Tams, 72-71, in the first round. FEU lost to UST, 85-76 and NU, 70-68, before closing out the second round by ousting La Salle, 71-68.  Both teams made short work of their twice-to-win opponents to start the Final Four with FEU dropping the Eagles, 76-74, last Saturday and UST dethroning NU, 64-55, last Sunday.

Three UST players were in the top 10 statistical point rankings at the end of the eliminations with Ferrer at No. 2, Daquioag at No. 5 and Abdul at No. 7. FEU’s Belo was at No. 9 and Tolomia at No. 10. So five of the top 10 players are in the Finals.

Before the Final Four started, Ferrer averaged 17.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 31.5 minutes. Daquioag hit at a 16.4 clip and scored a league tournament high of 34 points. Abdul was the third Tiger to average in double figure points at 12.6 to go with 8.4 boards a game. FEU also had three Tams averaging in twin digits with Belo at 12.7, Tolomia at 12.4 and Pogoy at 10.8. No player in the FEU lineup averaged more than 25 minutes while with UST, Ferrer and Daquiaog logged at least 31, underscoring the Tams’ deeper rotation. Nine players scored at least 10 points in a game for FEU while only six recorded double figures for UST in another statistical comparison pointing to the Tams’ depth.