After being on the wrong end of fairy tale stories for the past 36 years, University of the Philippines finally achieved the sweetest of victories.
In front of generations of Iskos and Iskas, the Fighting Maroons of Diliman ended Ateneo de Manila University’s dominance in UAAP Men’s Basketball, taking a 72-69 overtime triumph in Game Three of the Season 84 Finals, Friday at SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
And it’s all thanks to one JD Cagulangan.
With the game tied at 69-all, the NCAA Season 94 Juniors Basketball Most Valuable Player, who only played a total of 34 minutes during his rookie year three years ago with De La Salle Unviersity, uncorked a booming triple with five split seconds left on the clock.
Pandemonium soon erupted afterward as half of the 15,132 fans inside the venue erupted in cheers while the rest broke down in tears.
“Sobrang sarap, wala akong masabi kasi champion na kami,” said Cagulangan, a native of Butuan who wound up with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. “Sobrang sarap talaga.”
Finally, the wait had ended for UP.
This is UP’s third title in the league, winning their first title all the way back to the second season of the league and following it up 47 years later during season 49.
“I feel very happy right now,” said the soft-spoken first-year head coach of the Fighting Maroons Goldwin Monteverde. “I want to thank the UP community. I also want to thank the Lord God for this championship.”
Just like the first two games of the series that saw UP draw first blood with an 81-74 win before the defending champions take it back with a 69-66 squeaker, this game was epic.
SJ Belangel, who was putting up a performance for the ages, gave the Blue Eagles a 59-56 lead with 56.7 seconds left in regulation after canning two freebies. The returning CJ Cansino answered right back with a three nine seconds later to knot things up.
Neither the Fighting Maroons nor the Blue Eagles could come up with buckets during the final seconds of regulation as Gerry Abadiano missed a couple of threes while Ange Kouame could not convert on their side of the court.
In overtime, Belangel took charge, knocked down clutch baskets and, later on, found Gian Mamuyac for a corner triple with 1:47 left to give the Blue Eagles a 69-64 lead.
But just as what the Fighting Maroons showed all season long, they rise.
Off a Malick Diouf airball, Cagulangan was able to grab the rebound and buried a trey to cut the lead down to two. Misses by Belangel and Kouame then led to a Cagulangan find to Diouf, who slammed the ball down with 38.7 seconds left to tie things up.
Off a timeout, Dave Ildefonso missed on his attempt that led to Cagulangan’s heroics.
Diouf led UP with 17 points, nine rebounds, and three steals. He averaged 12.3 rebounds, 11.7 points, 2.7 steals, 2.0 assists, and 1.0 blocks in the series to win Finals MVP.
Cansino, who played his first game since the last game of the elimination round after suffering a knee injury, added 14 points in just 11 minutes of action.
Ricci Rivero ended his collegiate career with two championships. Also graduating from UP is Noah Webb.
Belangel led the Blue Eagles with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting while Kouame tallied 12 points, 14 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.
Meanwhile, Tyler Tio, who wound up with just two points, and Gian Mamuyac, who had 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists, played their final game for Ateneo.
Ildefonso was limited to just two points in 30 minutes of action.
It is still unknown whether BJ Andrade, Raffy Verano, and Jolo Mendoza also played their final games for Ateneo.
The Scores:
UP 72 — Diouf 17, Cansino 14, Cagulangan 13, Rivero 9, Alarcon 8, Tamayo 6, Spencer 3, Lucero 0, Abadiano 0, Fortea 0.
Ateneo 69 — Belangel 27, Kouame 12, Mamuyac 10, Koon 6, Verano 5, Ildefonso 2, Tio 2, Andrade 0, Daves 0, Chiu 0.
Quarterscores: 17-11, 31-27, 46-47, 59-59, 72-69.
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