AND so it came to pass that reigning University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) titlist De La Salle University romped away with the 2013 Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) crown in a best-of-three finals mismatch against Cebu powerhouse Southwestern University.
The Green Archers simply outclassed the Cobras in two straight games — 64-54 in the series opener and 70-61 in the second game. Coach Juno Sauler’s troops were never seriously threatened in both contests as SWU played with no sense of urgency.
To this Hoopster, the Cobras appeared to be already contented with a finals stint. They are only the second Cebu City unit in the PCCL’s 12-year existence to reach the championship round following the Greg Slaughter-bannered University of the Visayas’ 2007 finals appearance against eventual champion Ateneo de Manila University.
With due respect to the Cobras, at no time in the series did the cool and calm Sauler have to push the “panic” button or burn the midnight oil for a crucial play.
And neither did the DLSU faithful feel from the get-go that the championship would not be falling into their team’s hands for the second time in PCCL annals.
To most collegiate ball followers, the PCCL crown was already in the bag for the heavily-favored Green Archers even before the title series got underway.
La Salle was simply the superior team and owned SWU’s number despite a 68-58 overtime loss to the Cobras at the start of the single-round Final Four.
Before that (December 9) debacle, the listless Archers had not played an official game since the Green Archers defeated the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers in the decisive Game Three of the 2013 UAAP finals on October 12.
UAAP Finals Most Valuable Player Jeron Teng exemplified his team’s lethargic play as he shot 1-for-10 from the field and tallied a measly seven points.
In contrast, SWU had been in action since the Southern Island qualifiers got underway on November 19, with the Cobras exacting sweet revenge against their Cebu School Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) finals tormentors the UV Green Lancers, in the segment finals to reach the national Final Four.
Of course, the 6-foot-2 multi-dimensional Teng out of Xavier School subsequently bounced back from that sub-par performance to propel the Green to their second major crown in two months with a brilliant two-game performance in the finals.
Teng, who once scored 104 points in a Metro Manila Tiong Lian Basketball Association (MMTLBA) appearance on January 5, 2011 as a junior high-schooler at Xavier School, collected 18 points, six rebounds and five assists in Game One and 16 points, four boards and five dimes in Game Two.
Deservedly so, the youngest son of former professional star Alvin Teng earned tournament MVP honors. The pivotal game for La Salle’s PCCL title finish was its come-from-behind 64-60 success against “four-peating” National Collegiate Athletic Association champion San Beda College that sent the Taft Avenue-based squad to the best-of-three finals.
With the scrapping of the third-place game, the Far Eastern University Tamaraws clinched the No. 3 spot outright by virtue of their 62-56 triumph over the Red Lions in the Final Four.
Teng made it to the PCCL Mythical Five, along with teammates Jason Perkins and Almond Vosotros and former Green Archer Mark Tallo and African import Landry Sanjo from Southwestern University.
For La Salle, the PCCL crown was its first since 2008 when it beat then-UAAP finals tormentor Ateneo in the finals. The country’s top collegiate team can rest on their laurels for a while and maybe months later, start preparing for the bigger challenges ahead – like a UAAP title repeat next year.
The Green Archers’ UAAP arch nemesis, the Ateneo Blue Eagles, surely would want to know if La Salle is capable of handling prosperity.
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