Then almost everything went wild and everybody went crazy after Jec Chia hit the biggest shot of his life – a buzzer-beater from 15 feet – to carry Ateneo past University of the East and into the finals of the 65th UAAP season.
The final score, 72-70, would hardly matter now for both teams which fought tooth and nail, pound for pound and man to man in the classic 40-minute ballgame that offered the right to meet La Salle in the best-of-three finals starting Thursday.
Because in the end, it would be Chia’s basket that would easily ring the bell, for it capped the Blue Eagles’ unbelievable climb back to the finals, a couple of weeks after they were almost written off as a fumbling, highly-rated squad that lost five of its first nine games this season.
"Bahala na ang Diyos," said the 23-year-old Chia, a graduating student, of the game-winner as he squeezed his way out of the boisterous Ateneo dugout, smiling and slapping high-fives with almost everyone who greeted him.
After making the shot, Chia streaked down the court, pumping his fist into the air and was met by his teammates who jumped all over him, bringing him down on the floor as the Ateneo crowd roared in approval.
The Warriors left the court red-faced, some of them in tears, and went straight to their dugout. One by one, they returned to the court, faced their fans and, for the last time this season, joined the singing of their school hymn – painful as it was.
"It was a miracle," were the only notable words that came out of Joel Banal’s mouth as reporters swarmed all over the excited, jubilant but weary Ateneo coach inside the press room.
His counterpart from La Salle, Franz Pumaren, watched the game on television, and then quickly looked forward to the second straight finals showdown between the two teams. It’s bound to be a blockbuster, according to Pumaren, and it will also give the Green Archers a chance to get back at the Blue Eagles who just recently denied them a historic sweep of the elims.
"Well, I think everybody’s going to be happy with this Ateneo victory. I’m sure a lot of people were praying for an Ateneo-La Salle finals," he told The STAR over the telephone while Banal was still inside the press room.
Looking back at Chia’s heroic shot, the five-peat seeking La Salle coach said: "It was a good shot. Maganda ang release and I felt it was going in the moment it left his hands."
Before hitting the winning basket, Chia turned the ball over four times going into the final three minutes, each one of those errors giving the Warriors a golden chance to take the win and get into the finals for the first time since 1991.
But they just couldn’t hang on as they missed numerous shots before giving the Blue Eagles their final possession with only 7.8 seconds left.
A delaying-the-game technical foul against UE’s Ronald Tubid proved to be the turning point because it broke the Warriors’ momentum after taking a 68-65 lead with two minutes left.
"We were just seven seconds away from the finals," said UE coach Boyzie Zamar inside their gloomy dugout.