Animo La Salle!

From suspension to champion.

After a year of absence, La Salle, unexpectedly, regained its throne in the 70th UAAP Senior Men’s basketball tournament last October 7, 2007.

The De La Salle University Green Archers has done the improbable in a best-of-three championship series by completing a two-game sweep – a 73-64 win in Game two – over the University of the East Red Warriors at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Green Archers, armed with a one-game advantage, used the free throw territory as its main course particularly in the fourth quarter, supplied long-time mentor Franz Pumaren his fifth UAAP title since 1998.

The Green Archers now have seven overall UAAP titles since joining the league in 1986.

“I won several championships in the past but it is bittersweet for me because I know now how it feels to beat your brother,” said Pumaren, also a Quezon City councilor. “If I can share half of our trophy, I can give it to UE because they also deserve it.”

“Cholo (Villanueva) is terrific, especially in the last three games including our playoff game against Ateneo while you should also give credit to TY (Tang),” he said. “Our championship experience did it for us.”

“They could have been playing now in the commercial leagues but they decided to stay with us, it’s so priceless to win a championship.”

University of the East, with a 14-0 record going into this series, performed fairly well in the defensive end but had 21 turnovers – including two in the final three minutes – that cost them the run for the title.

The Red Warriors also gave up 28 fouls, giving the Green Archers the opportunity to register 27-of-36 shots from the foul line. La Salle committed 18 fouls and UE only recorded 5-of-14 attempts from the free throw line.

UE committed a season-high 31 turnovers to drop Game one via a single point, 64-63.

After racing to a 15-11 lead in the first period, La Salle’s big man Rico Maierhofer and Peejay Barua merged for 14 points in the second quarter to ignite the Green Archers’ blistering 19-12 burst and earned their biggest lead by halftime, 34-23.

The Red Warriors tried as many times to trim down the gap in the 3rd quarter. With Kelvin Gregorio, Paul Lee and Mark Borboran at the helm, the Red Warriors were very close trailing by 1, 33-34 after 4 1/2 minutes of play in the 3rd. UE again had another run courtesy of Elmer Espiritu and Jorel Canizares for a 3-point deficit, 43-46, with 1:16 minutes to go. But the Green Archers had an answer to every UE rally.

In the final quarter, when Mark Borboran drained a long trey at the left flank to come closer at 51-52 with 8:31 minutes remaining, La Salle countered with a 9-4 run initiated by Casio’s triple and baskets from Villanueva and Tang to stretch back the lead, 61-55, with 5:21 minutes left in regulation.

UE’s combo guard Paul Lee scored two straight baskets to keep everything in striking distance, 59-61, with 2:05 minutes left in the last quarter. But Tang and Casio had their eyes focused on the prize anew and extended the edge, 66-59, with 51 seconds left.

From there, the Red Warriors lost control and could do nothing. La Salle’s gallery was celebrating chanting the Animo cheer.

Joseph Casio, who had 14 points (15 points in the 2nd half) shared the Finals MVP honors with Cholo Villanueva contributing 17 points for La Salle.

Maierhofer had 11 points – nine from the charity stripe – and grabbed 11 boards. While TY Tang had 8 points.

Borboran and Lee made 12 points each for UE, while Kelvin Gregorio added 11 points.

Individual Scores:

DLSU (73) – Casio 17, Villanueva 14, Maierhofer 11, Tang 8, Co 6, Barua 6, Malabes 5, Cua 2, Mangahas 2, Walsham 2, Atkins 0, Ferdinand 0.

UE (64) – Borboran 12, Lee 12, Gregorio 11, Cañizares 8, Martinez 8, Arellano 5, Espiritu 5, Fampulme 3, Lingganay 0, Bandaying 0, Llagas 0, Thiele 0.

Quarter Scores: 15-11; 34-23; 52-45; 73-64