By MARK REY MONTEJO
Looks like the zeal and winning culture are back for the once mighty the University of the East Red Warriors.
After UE dropped its first two games in the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament, a lot, including self-styled experts thought the team that still holds the longest championship run in the league at seven is heading to another futile season.
No. They were wrong.
The Warriors recovered incredibly from that sloppy start by winning four games in a row, including two against well-funded squads – first against defending champion La Salle, 75-70, and Ateneo, 69-62, on Wednesday night, Oct. 2.
For the uninitiated, UE was the first school to win 18 titles after it back-to-back feat in 1984-85 – thanks largely to the dynamic duo of Allan Caidic and Jerry Codinera.
But UE’s fortune took a big hit, and never won a title since then although the Warriors still made it to the finals five times – the last during the time of Paul Lee in 2009.
It was their win over the Archers that enabled the Warriors to see the love and respect of the entire UE community, and that was the reason why they played inspired basketball against the Blue Eagles – a team they have not beaten for 9 long years.
And they did it despite the absence of Ethan Galang who was nursing a knee injury.
And never mind the early struggle of John Abate as the rest of the squad came into the game all fired up after being challenged by coach Jack Santiago.
That challenge did wonders to the team.
“Chinallenge ko lang ‘yong mga players [kasi no’ng] last practice, nasira na naman ‘yong aming rotation kasi one of our players got injured again. It’s Ethan Galang suffering right now from a knee problem,” said Santiago.
“Na-challenge lang sakin ‘yong mga bata kasi most of the players coming off the bench, they need to step up and fill the spot of Ethan Galang,” he added. “I’m so happy with the boys [that] they responded very well.”
After being down at 47-37 with still 8 minutes and 30 seconds left of the final quarter, Wello Lingolingo, Precious Momowei, Nico Mulingtapang, Rainer Maga and Devin Fikes joined hands in several scoring bursts to seize the initiative and eventually the momentum.
“It’s a team sport. We’re all like one big family, so Ethan was injured… so we went out tonight, stepping up and we’re happy we got the win,” said Momowei, who chalked up 18 points and 15 rebounds in 40 minutes of play.
But it was Maga who delivered the telling blows.
He electrified the UE crowd when he drained back-to-back triples that put UE on top 57-54 after a long and difficult chase. He finished with 8 points – big enough to earn raves from the coaching staff.
“Kasi lahat kami, family kami, so, need namin ng support from each other. Kahit wala ‘yong isa, kailangan mag step-up kami,” Maga added.
Another win against Adamson on Sunday would enable the Warriors to match the record of the 2014 squad of five straight.
Despite the dry spell, the Warriors are the proud holders of the longest finals streak appearances of 16 – from 1957 to 1972 – including the time of the legendary Robert Jaworski in the late 60s.
