Long wait over for Tams or Bulldogs

MANILA, Philippines - After a week-long wait, the UAAP will finally crown a new champion today.

But for the Season 77 men’s basketball finals protagonists, the wait for glory and recognition has taken a lot longer: 60 years for the National U Bulldogs and nine years for the Far Eastern U Tamaraws.

The Bulldogs and the Tams battle for all the marbles in a hotly-anticipated Game Three that fittingly ends a long-drawn season spiked by a double rubbermatch for Nos. 4 and 2, a pair of stretched-out Final Four matchup, and a titular duel that took the full route.

FEU won the opener, 75-70, then NU countered with a 62-47 rout before a record 24,896-strong crowd to set the stage for the 4 p.m. winner-take-all at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

“I think it’s expected to go the distance. Ang maganda lang niyan (The good thing about it is) both teams have equal chances in the final game,” said FEU coach Nash Racela, whose charges are seeking to become champions again after their romp in 2005.

“It will boil down dun sa kung sinong team ang makaka-assert ng sarili (which team can assert itself). Can we assert ourselves defensively or can FEU assert itself offensively? I think that would be the key for the third game,” said NU mentor Eric Altamirano, whose wards are shooting for their first plum since 1954.

NU aims for a perfect ending to a gutsy drive that saw them survive a KO for the fourth and last berth with University of the East before toppling No. 1 seed Ateneo in two games in the F4. Once the ultimate underdogs, the NU cagers can assert themselves as the league’s new top dogs with a historic win that will make them the first fourth ranked team to ever win the title in the Final Four.

For FEU, the goal is live up to its reputation as the league’s winningest team by snaring title No. 20 and starting another reign after nine years. The Tams look to duplicate their disposal of last year’s champion La Salle in the third game of their previous F4 duel to emerge victorious and snare the plum.

 “One game na lang so bibigay na namin ang lahat. Expected din namin na bibigay din ng FEU ang lahat so kung sino na lang ang mas may gusto (It’s a winner-take-all so both NU and FEU will give it their all. It will come down to who wants it more),” said NU ace Gelo Alolino.

“Dito na magkakaalam (This is the moment of truth),” said FEU star Mike Tolomia, adding they have to get their excitement in check in the decider. “Nung Game Two kasi buong game, nagmamadali kami parang gusto namin manalo agad (We were overeager the whole time in Game Two and that hurt us).”

Tolomia and Alolino, buddies since their days with the Phl youth team, are setting friendship aside as they seek glory for their respective squads.

Alolino (13 points, seven rebounds, two assists per game in the finals) is expected to lead the charge of NU along with Troy Rosario (15.5 points, 11 rebounds) and Glenn Khobuntin (13 points, four rebounds).

Tolomia  (15 points 5.5 rebounds, two assists) is tipped to banner FEU in tandem with Mac  Belo (12.5 points, 6.5 boards 1.5 feed). Carl Cruz, who normed 12.5 points in the elims but a measly two in the finals, should step up to help the duo as does Game One hero Roger Pogoy, who coughed up four in the second game after a 14-point effort in the opener.

It will be a classic showdown of a defense against offense. The first two games showed as much. In Game One, the Tams shot 40.9 percent and scored in the 70s against the NU defense. But in Game Two, the Bulldogs held the Tams to 27.9 percent and a lowly 47 tally.