The Week That Was Season 2: Week 13 (September 16-23)

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The UAAP elimination round draws to a close. That means we're now heading to the Final 4. Well, not yet for FEU and La Salle, who will dispute for the wildcard on Wednesday (more on that later). Meanwhile, NCAA's own Final 4 race tightens as playoff contender got crucial wins this past week. So presenting TWTW 2 Week 13.

5. La Salle Tested Our Math Skills

Thanks to Almond Vosotros' hot night, we had the wildest UAAP playoff race
in years.

For mathematicians and statisticians/sports analysts like me, Pong Ducanes, and others, that La Salle win over FEU last Sunday tested our computing skills. The win by the Green Archers opened a possibility of a 4-way tie for 2nd. It led to us posting the possible scenarios (16 in all including the possible order of the Ateneo-UST replay) in our blogs. In the end, however, UST took second place without going to a possible best-of-3 clash (more on story no. 4), NU getting third spot (more on story no. 2), and the Archers (with a win against Adamson last Thursday) and the Tamaraws meeting again on Wednesday to determine the wildcard finishers.

4. Bad News, Good News

Jeric Teng (L) and Roi Sumang engaged in a scoring battle in their game last
Thursday.

Now about the Growling Tigers, they entered the game hearing the bad news that their protest regarding their loss to Ateneo that Commissioner Ato Badolato initially vetoed was junked in the TechCom. No problem! UST was still able to clinch a semifinal berth with an 87-75 thrashing of also-ran UE Red Warriors. The Tigers exploded for 32 4th quarter points, even bucking a slow start for the quarter, en route to this win. Jeric Teng led UST with 26 points, and Karim Abdul added 22 and 9 rebounds. Roi Sumang finished his UAAP season with a bang with a 22-point output for UE.

3. Big NCAA Playoff Implications Week

Josan Nimes dished off to Mike Parala for an easy deuce as Mapua defeated
Perpetual Help last Monday.

The lone NCAA story in this almost all-UAAP weekly recap is the events that transpired over the NCAA week. The Letran Knights made those who watched the UAAP Cheerdance Competition remember that the NCAA is not yet done with a 70-59 crushing of the JRU Heavy Bombers. In the earlier game, the EAC Generals kept their playoff hopes alive with their own 73-64 win over also-ran CSB Blazers. San Beda eliminated Arellano, 82-75, in a Thursday game that knocked the Chiefs out and gave the Red Lions the twice-to-beat edge come the playoffs. The biggest story of the NCAA week was Mapua's 74-71 stunner against the Perpetual Help Altas. The Altas, citing spotty officiating as a ground, protested the game, but the NCAA board denied the appeal. Perpetual Help will enter their Tuesday game at the Subic Bay Freeport Gym in Olongapo against Lyceum needing to win it to pull away from the other contenders. In the first game, Mapua will try to keep their already too slim playoff hopes alive against San Beda.

2. Bulldogs Take the Replay

Ray-Ray Parks looked up to the sky as his teammates mobbed him after NU
beat FEU in overtime.

The main reason why I included the game last night here although it should have been included for nest week is that it's the final game of the elimination round of the UAAP. This is the ordered replay of the FEU-NU game that was omitted from the records because of the inconclusiveness of RR Garcia's game-winner the last time out. This time, it was Ray-Ray Parks who took the matters. Trailing 73-79 with less than 3 minutes left in the overtime session, capping a 17-2 run by the Tamaraws that forced overtime, Parks utilized his leadership skills well in the end as he, Emmanuel Mbe, and Mark De Guzman closed the game on their own 11-2 run to steal the win. Parks finished with a game-high 27 points, including the Bulldogs' last 5 points to seal the win. FEU dropped to a tie for 4th place (actually a 3-way tie for 3rd but NU takes the 3-seed due to superior quotient) with De La Salle. The Archers and the Tamaraws dispute the last Final 4 spot on Wednesday.

1. It's Cheerdance Time!

The hot ticket of the week!

The top story of the week: definitely the UAAP Cheerdance Competition! A mob of 19,505 paying patrons trooped to the Mall of Asia Arena for the first staging of a cheerleading tilt in the said arena. These people also witnessed what might be the most dramatic finish ever in the history of the UAAP Cheerdance Competition when the UP Pep Squad, who committed a big error in the end of their freedom-themed performance, won for the 3rd straight time against the FEU Cheering Squad, with a jungle-themed cheerleading stunt of their own. I have my own account of the story, and I have it here.

Games for the Week

Tuesday (Non-televised)

4:00 PM-SBC vs. MIT

6:00 PM-UPHSD vs. LPU

Wednesday

4:00 PM-FEU vs. DLSU

Thursday

4:00 PM-LPU vs. AU

6:00 PM-SSC-R vs. JRU

Saturday

12:00 PM-UST vs. NU

4:00 PM-TBA