ONLY once in the 76-year University Athletic of the Philippines (UAAP) basketball history has one school swept all three championships in the juniors, men’s and women’s divisions in the same season.
That came in 1994 (Season 57) when UST scored a grand slam with title victories in the three different divisions. In the men’s (collegiate) division, the Growling Tigers retained their title by defeating the De La Salle University Green Archers,
2-1, in the best-of-three finals after dropping the series opener. In the deciding Game Three, UST won by a solitary point, 77-76.
In the women’s (collegiate) division, the Tigresses trounced the Adamson University Lady Falcons in the finals. In the juniors (high school) division, the Tiger Cubs whipped the Ateneo Blue Eaglets in the finals, halting the six-year championship reign of the Adamson Baby Falcons in the process.
The year 1994 was the first of the Final Four era in which the four teams (out of eight) with the best win-loss records after the double-round elimination phase qualify for the two-tier playoffs.
In effect, the Final Four is equivalent to the semifinal playoffs where the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds own a twice-to-beat advantage over the No. 4 and No. 3 seeds, respectively.
The finals featuring the semifinal winners are a best-of-three affair. However, if one team sweeps the 14-game elimination round, it goes directly into the finals with a 1-0 lead in what essentially is a best-of-five duel (the undefeated No. 1 seed only has to win twice against its opponent to claim the crown while the latter needs three).
The UAAP Policy Board instituted the “bonus rule” in 2008 – one year after the University of the East went 14-0 in the elims and then qualified automatically for the best-of-three finals against its opponent with no other advantage whatsoever.
It has never been done before in the Final Four era, but tough-as-nail UST looks to become the first No. 4 seed to beat the top seed twice when it clashes with elimination-round leader National University on Saturday, September 28, in a do-or-die match that will determine which team faces De La Salle University in the best-of-three finals.
La Salle repeated over Far Eastern University, 71-68, yesterday in a game that the Green Archers trailed until the final five minutes. La Salle qualified for the finals for the first time since 2008.
The Growling Tigers, who surrendered a 2-0 decision to Ateneo de Manila University in the 2012 finals but got back at the Blue Eagles this year by knocking off the five-time defending titlists for the last Final Four ticket, forced a rubber match last Sunday with a 71-62 decision over a rusty Bulldogs team that dug itself too big a hole (trailing 39-23 at halftime and 63-45 early in the fourth quarter) to overcome.
Sunday was a major disaster for NU as its top-ranked women’s team also lost to No. 4 seed Adamson University, 76-71, sending their Final Four series to a decisive game that will determine which team goes to the best-of-three finals against No. 2 seed De La Salle, an 81-74 overtime winner over third-seeded UST in their own semifinal duel.
NU is bidding to reach the UAAP finals for the first time since 1970 when they were beaten by the University of the East. The Bulldogs annexed their first and only championship in 1954 behind future two-time Olympian Narciso Bernardo. UST is seeking a return trip to the finals in Jeric Teng’s farewell UAAP campaign.
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