BY KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Games Saturday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
12 noon – UST vs FEU (women’s)
4 p.m. – UST vs Ateneo (men’s)
Dynasty or a Cinderella story?
That’s what Ateneo and University of Santo Tomas are aspiring for as they begin their UAAP best-of-three title series Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Match is at 4 p.m. with the Eagles looking to further boost their legacy as the most successful team the past three years while the Tigers are out to complete their Cinderella story, having beaten fancied teams like Far Eastern University and University of the Philippines on the way to advancing to the finals.
UST’s incredible run started when they beat the Maroons, 85-69, in the first round. The feat was no fluke as they scored an 84-78 in the second round before beating them for two consecutive games in the stepladder semis.
But can the Tigers extend their luck against a team that went undefeated in 14 games?
UST coach Aldin Ayo said there’s no harm in trying.
Their first meeting was a classic one as the Eagles won by only one point, 71-70. But in the second round, the Eagles won by a large margin, 66-52.
In the din of the team’s celebration following their 68-65 win over the Maroons, Ayo told his players to calm down, saying the war is far from over.
“Wala pa kaming naa-achieve,” he said. “This is not our main goal. So we have to refocus and prepare for our next game.”
The Tigers ought to work hard since the Eagles have long been battle ready.
Even Ateneo coach Tab Baldwin looks pretty contended with their preparation.
During their 16-day break – while the Tigers, Maroons and Tamaraws were busy plotting their strategies on how to cut each others’ throats – the Eagles were also preparing by playing against reigning NCAA champion San Beda University.
The Eagles also played against a PBA team – TNT KaTropa – in order to gain extra confidence.
And that made Baldwin more confident.
“I don’t have any doubt that we will fall off our game,” he said. “There’s an argument that those games (in the stepladder semifinals) will keep our opponent sharp and fresh, but we’ll be sharp.”
“We’re healthy, we’re strong. We don’t back off to any of our work because it works.”
Adding twist to what could be a dramatic series is the showdown in the middle between last year’s Rookie of the Year Ange Kouame for Ateneo and this season’s Most Valuable Player Soulemane Chabi Yo of UST.
Also expected to provide firepower for Ateneo are two-time MVP Thirdy Ravena,
SJ Belangel, Will Navarro and Matt Nieto.
Leading UST, meanwhile, will be Renzo Subido, Rhenz Abando and Mark Nonoy.
Game 2 will be on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena while Game 3, if necessary, will be on Nov. 23 at the same venue.
